The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now approach Covid survivors, to create awareness on how important it is for the latter to donate plasma for critically ill patients. Civic officials said they have directed the local ward officer to call every survivor from their respective ward-war rooms, follow up on their health and ask them to donate plasma.
This move has been necessitated as most survivors are refusing to voluntarily donate plasma for the convalescent plasma therapy because they do not want to relive their ordeal by going back to the hospital.
Convalescent plasma therapy involves transfusion of plasma from the blood of recovered patients into those who are moderately or critically ill. The plasma of the recovered patient contains antibodies that fight the infection.
Earlier,The Free Press Journal had reported that despite promising to donate plasma for the treatment of other Covid patients, most survivors refused to keep their word. Just over 100 Covid survivors in Mumbai have donated so far, of the estimated 59,238 (excluding those discharged in the last 24 hours).
Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said the BMC had directed all the ward officers to follow up on recovered Covid patients who had been discharged and request them to donate plasma. “The doctors and civic officials deployed at the war room in every ward have been directed to regularly call these survivors and inform them about the importance of donating plasma,” he said.
Doctors said, for various reasons Covid patients refuse to donate to convalescent plasma therapy. The donation is voluntary, people cannot be forced into doing so. “Recovered Covid patients do not want to recall their recent ordeal, so they are reluctant to come forward, being mentally unprepared to do so. We have also learnt that most patients provide wrong numbers, so that we do not 'bother' them,” said Dr Mohan Joshi, in-charge, BYL Nair Hospital.
