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Maharashtra FDA issues first statewide blood bank safety order
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has issued its first comprehensive order for blood banks across the state. FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe announced the order on Friday, saying it aims to ensure…
The Story in Brief
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration has issued its first comprehensive order for blood banks across the state. FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe announced the order on Friday, saying it aims to ensure uniform compliance with donor screening, testing, storage and patient safety. Human blood is classified as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, so all blood centres must hold a valid licence.
The order covers infrastructure requirements, personnel qualifications, donor selection criteria from 2020, and mandatory testing of every unit for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis and Malaria. It also mandates proper storage temperatures, quarantine for suspected units, self-audits and daily updates on the e-RaktKosh portal. Mundhe said inspections of some centres showed statutory requirements were not being fully followed.
The Indian Opinion
The FDA's new blood bank rulebook is necessary but exposes a troubling gap: some centres were already failing statutory checks. The order itself lays down the basics, donor screening, storage temperatures, HIV tests, that should never have been optional. The real test is enforcement. How many of Maharashtra's 300-plus blood banks will fail a surprise inspection six months from now? That number will tell us if this order is a real clampdown or just a filing exercise.
Sources (2): indiatoday.in, ndtv.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
