A high-level National Review on India's Blood Transfusion Services was convened by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, this morning through a video conference commencing at 11:00 AM, and chaired by Dr. Rakesh Gupta, IAS, Additional Secretary (Public Health), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Director General, National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). The Review was attended by representatives from all 36 States and Union Territories, who joined virtually from their respective State and Union Territory capitals. From Chandigarh, the proceedings were joined from Chandigarh by senior officials.

The Review took stock of the five key stages of blood transfusion services, namely Licensing and Renewal, Donor Screening and Blood Collection, Testing for TTI and Referral & linkages of TTI reactive donor, Processing, Storage and Issuance of blood, and Reporting and Record-keeping. Performance was assessed against a structured framework of 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), drawing on data from eRaktKosh, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) database, the Blood Bank Management System (BBMS) and Food and Drugs Administration inspection records.

In his chairing remarks, Dr. Rakesh Gupta, IAS, Additional Secretary (Public Health) and Director General, NACO, reiterated the national goal of ensuring accessibility to safe blood in every district of country with zero transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI), with the milestone of at least one blood bank in every district by December 2026. The Review noted that concerted efforts are under way, in partnership with States and Union Territories, to progressively expand district-level blood-centre coverage and to complete the onboarding of all licensed blood centres onto eRaktKosh within the national roadmap.

The Review took note of several positive developments in Chandigarh. The Union Territory has registered universal blood-centre availability across the Union Territory, with every district served by at least one licensed blood centre. Officials further highlighted strong alignment with the national voluntary blood donation benchmark, with the overwhelming majority of donated units collected through voluntary donation, alongside exceptional testing proficiency. These achievements were recognised as important building blocks in the State's / Union Territory's blood-safety architecture and are consistent with the directions set out by the National Blood Policy and the 2026 national framework for Blood Transfusion Services.

Looking ahead, the Review also outlined a set of priority processes that States and Union Territories will collectively strengthen in the coming quarters. These include continued implementation of standard operating procedures for the operations in blood centres and voluntary blood-donation camps; the phased progression of all operational blood centres toward standardised 4th Gen Rapid Tests/ ELISA/CLIA-based screening of TTIs, the enhancing of component-separation capacity to ensure that all the blood centre have component separation unit; and the deepening of real-time digital traceability through eRaktKosh and the Blood Bank Management System (BBMS). The adoption of ABDM-linked biometric donor identification and the creation of Health Facility Registry (HFR) identifiers at every blood centre will further reinforce the integrity of the national blood-safety architecture. The State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC), the Indian Red Cross Society, the Food and Drugs Administration and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation will jointly take forward a time-bound action plan on these national priorities, with progress reviewed at the next quarterly meeting.

In his concluding remarks at the video conference, Dr. Rakesh Gupta, IAS, Additional Secretary (Public Health) and Director General, NACO, set out a focused set of operational directions for the States and Union Territories: a review by the SBTC of the licence status of every blood centre; 100 per cent adoption of eRaktKosh and BBMS real-time updates through coordinated action by the SBTC, IRCS, FDA and CDSCO; stringent implementation of the standard operating procedures in the blood centres and voluntary blood donation camps; ensuring the training of HR on the standard training modules of NBTC and SBTC, ensure availability of ABDM-linked biometric devices at all blood centres; and creation of Health Facility Registry (HFR) identifiers for every blood centre. The Union Territory reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with the Government of India to realise the shared goal of ensuring timely, accessible and safe blood for every citizen.

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SJ/Manjit/RN

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