HYDERABAD: The outbreak of dengue that the State government refuses to acknowledge, has left family members of patients running from pillar to post for blood.

According to a response to an RTI petition filed by activist Robin Zaccheus, no funding has been provided for the infrastructural development of the public blood banks across the State between 2016 and 2019.

Speaking to Express, Zaccheus said, “I donate blood to public blood banks regularly, however, seeing the condition of the infrastructure here, I filed an RTI two months back. As the RTI response states, no funding has been provided for the betterment of these blood banks. There needs to be widespread awareness about government authorised blood banks.

KT Rama Rao often tweets about the need of blood and assumes that his responsibility ends there. “Why should the public have to beg on social media and spend thousands of rupees at private clinics, when public blood banks should provide units for free,” he questions.

According to the response by the AIDS Control Department of the central government, the basic principle of non-profitability should be followed in blood banking, and continue to levy no charge for blood as such, as it is to be collected from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors who are not to be paid for donating blood.

The RTI response reads, “for Government blood banks, the processing charges are recommended as, whole blood Rs 1,050 per unit, packed red cells Rs 1,050 per unit, fresh frozen plasma Rs 300 per unit, platelet concentrate Rs 300 per unit and cryoprecipitate Rs 200 per unit.”

The recommended processing charges for non-government blood banks as, “whole blood Rs 1,450 per unit, packed red cells Rs 1,450 per unit, fresh frozen plasma Rs 400 per unit, platelet concentrate Rs 400 per unit and cryoprecipitate Rs 250 per unit.”