Hyderabad: Patients who have recovered from coronavirus are getting exorbitant offers for donation of their plasma ranging from Rs 60,000 to Rs 3 lakh for a single donation.
The Times of India has quoted Warangal lawyer Akhil Ennamsetty “You can get 400ml of plasma for up to Rs 3 lakh. With the official system being limited, donor-patient contact is moving off the grid.” He has been trying to match patients and donors in the city. Ennamsetty himself is a Covid-19 survivor. He was the first person in Telangana to donate plasma.
Saying that desperate families are willing to pay any price, Akhil noted that this is a dangerous situation. He expressed fears that it robs the poor of an equal chance of finding eligible donors. In order to streamline the system, Ennamsetty has been requesting the state government for an official database of recovered patients.
NRIs are said to be pushing up costs as they can afford to pay up. As per the report, the kin of a senior citizen even offered a chartered flight to bring a donor from Delhi. It must be noted that paid donations of blood and blood components have been banned through a Supreme Court order of 1996; still the informal market of plasma seems to be booming.