Is
the hightech mobile blood bus (acting as mobile blood bank) proving to be a
white elephant for the Banaras Hindu University? Till date, the bus has not
moved out of the BHU campus and the coverage of blood donation campaigns have
been restricted to the varsity campus only.
The
state-of-the art and fully air conditioned mobile blood bus was left stranded
on the rear side of Sir Sunder Lal (SSL) Hospital on the World AIDS Day. Besides,
the condition of the van was enough to raise the million-dollar question on
when it would finally move out of the BHU campus to spread awareness about safe
blood donation and prevent HIV infection in other parts of the region.
”Initially,
there was no permission to run the bus outside the campus. Now the matter has
been lingering with the road transportation office (RTO) even after physical
verification of the condition of the bus more than a month ago,” said KK Gupta,
in-charge of Blood Bank, BHU.
The
start-of-the-art bus was provided by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)
to BHU administration last year (2010) for carrying safe blood donation camps
in different parts of the district besides raising awareness about preventive
measures to check HIV infection. As per recent reports of NACO, more than 75%
of HIV infection spreads through unsafe blood transfusion.
The
nightmares of the hightech bus have continued ever since it came to the BHU
campus and it has struggled to move out of the campus in the past one year.
Despite untiring efforts of Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and varsity
administration, the bureaucratic hurdles have put brakes on the wheels of the
bus.
When
contacted, IMS director TM Mohapatra also said a number of letters had been
moved to NACO and UP state AIDS control society (UP SACS) for granting
permission to move the bus outside the campus, but the work lingered due to one
reason or the other. ”We have intensified efforts to make the bus reach nearby
villages and other parts of the district,” he added.
It
is also worth mentioning that while the bus was handed over to BHU administration
a year ago, the provisions of equipping it with required manpower including
driver, cleaner and maintenance staff have been lacking. The varsity
administration has not only looked after the operation and maintenance of the
bus, but even the provision of fuel (diesel) has been made from its fund to help
it move within the campus.
Each
day, the bus is made to move at least two metres in to and fro to help charge
the battery. If the process is not followed, not only will the battery get
discharged but the high power A-C system could also collapse. More than a month
has passed since the RTO office made physical verification of the condition of
the bus, but the process of granting permission to run the vehicle outside the
campus have not been expedited.
The
bus is fully air-conditioned and equipped with facilities to allow as many as
four units of blood donation simultaneously. It is also equipped with
refrigeration unit to allow safe storage of blood collected through blood
donations. It could be carried to any parts of the district to ensure safe
blood donation on the site. Besides four cushioned chairs for blood donation, a
separate chamber is provided for relaxing and making preparation for blood
donation. The high power batteries drive the in-built power system besides
keeping the AC on inside the bus.
The blame game is still on. Even as we talk about Varanasi, a thought lingers in the mind. Why is Karnataka’s blood mobile also suffering the same fate? Will someone wake up atleast now?
(Source: Times Of India)