New blood screening facility comes up at SUM

BHUBANESWAR: The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here became the first healthcare institution in Odisha to introduce the most advanced Individual Donor-Nucleic Acid Testing (ID-NAT) blood screening system to ensure safest possible blood transfusion.

Inaugurating the ID-NAT machine on Friday, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das described the system as a highly sensitive method of blood screening which would ensure safety for the recipients of blood. “IMS and SUM Hospital has been following the best practices in medical sciences. Acquiring the new facility it has added another feather to its cap,” he said.

Director of State Blood Transfusion Council Dr Urmila Mishra said five mandatory blood tests are usually done by blood banks for HIV, Hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C, Malaria and venereal disease research. “It is difficult to screen the virus in the absence of advanced systems as our focus is on blood safety,” she said. 
ID-NAT can detect even the lowest traces of viruses like HIV, Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C if present in the blood.

Vice-Chancellor of SOA University Prof Ashok Mahapatra said the newly installed machine has tremendous potential and would benefit a large number of patients. But efforts have to be made for optimal utilisation of the facility, he said.