Asia’s largest blood bank will be soon set up in Chennai with storage space for more than 2 lakh units of blood and a facility to extract protein from blood plasma. The Blood Bank will be situated in 65,000 sq.ft. at a cost of Rs 400 Crores. The Blood Bank will be on a 10 acre land situated adjacent to the Government General Hospital.

The facility to extract protein from blood plasma is significant because the protein, called immunoglobulin, acts as an antibody. Immunoglobulin therapy provides life-saving treatment for:-

• pregnant women
• patients with nerve disorders
• patients with liver cirrhosis
• cancer patients
• hepatitis patients
  

Presently, protein is imported and costs more than Rs 3 lakh for five vials. In some cases, patients who cannot afford this are treated with a finer grade of plasma cells that are closest to protein.
Tag Health