Navi Mumbai, July 31, 2020: Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai (AHNM) today joined hands with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to launch “Convalescent Plasma Donor Awareness Campaign”, across Navi Mumbai and the neighbouring areas. The awareness campaign was inaugurated by Shri Eknath Shinde, Honourable Cabinet Minister of Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings) Government of Maharashtra and also on this occasion felicitated the plasma donors. Shri Rajan Vichare, Honourable Member of Parliament, Thane, was also present during this initiative. This is a first of its kind initiative wherein the prospective plasma donors are screened in a camp organised through NMMC in the community and registered. After performing requisite screening tests, the donors are requested to donate convalescent plasma at Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai. The plasma that is collected is made available to needy patients based on their doctor’s prescription.
The NMMC has a vision to provide COVID-19 treatment access to all citizens in the region. To support the cause, Apollo Hospitals would like to provide the general citizens a direct access to world-class treatment modalities backed up by universal protocols & a team of highly qualified specialists.
The Transfusion Medicine and Blood Bank department at Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai is equipped with all the infrastructure and latest technology. It is being led by qualified team of experts in transfusion medicine. The state of the art Blood Bank has licences and regulatory approvals for special procedures like single donor plasma collection, platelet pheresis, granulocyte collection & so on. The availability of multiple cell separator machines helps in curtailing the waiting period and turn-around time for availability of convalescent plasma. All the blood products undergo highest standards of testing including Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) which minimises the risk of getting infection through blood transfusion.
Apollo Hospitals has also enrolled in a multi-centric trial for convalescent plasma therapy. The hospital has the apheresis facility which is required to separate plasma from whole blood. The hospital is looking at donors who have recovered from COVID-19 to come ahead for plasma donation.
On this successful collaboration, Shri Eknath Shinde, Cabinet Minister of Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings), Government of Maharashtra, commented saying “Maharashtra has led from the forefront in the fight against COVID-19, by creating health infrastructure and taking adequate safety measures in the well-being of public.. This is a good initiative by NMCC and Apollo Hospitals to create awareness amongst people on convalescent plasma donation and we encourage them to take up more such initiatives benefitting the public. This initiative will help COVID-19 patients in need of Convalescent Plasma. We are also happy for the services provided by Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai & the work undertaken by the clinical team.”
Commenting on the initiative Mr. Abhijit Bangar, Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, said “We are happy to join hands with Apollo Hospitals for our Plasma Donor Awareness Campaign to create a holistic health management of COVID-19 care in Navi Mumbai. With state of the art infrastructure, we hope to create a large plasma donors bank through recovered COVID-19 patients. We are working on multiple initiatives with AHNM for extending good clinical care for COVID-19 in the region. I request the people to stay safe, follow safety guidelines and use of mask in containing the spread of infection.”
Mr. Santosh Marathe, COO and Unit Head, Apollo Hospitals Navi Mumbai, speaking on the initiative, “Apollo Hospitals is constantly adapting to the new challenges and has taken multiple initiatives to help the community by scaling up the operational beds provided for treatment of COVID-19 cases over the past few months while also providing isolation beds to NMMC under the Project I (Isolation). This initiative of Convalescent Plasma donor screening & awareness in collaboration with NMMC is an important step in offering Convalescent Plasma for needy patients. AHNM is the only recognised Hospital in the region to conduct clinical trials for convalescent plasma. AHNM has made significant infrastructure changes to segregate the routine elective work along with isolation care activities, successfully treating patients and addressing their health needs.”
