No end in sight to plight of thalassemia patients in Kozhikode

The leukocyte filter sets prevent adverse reaction during blood transfusions.

There is no end in sight to the plight of thalassemia patients as the free distribution of leukocyte filter sets — the medical devices used to separate leukocytes (white blood cells) from the whole blood before blood transfusion — is yet to resume at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode.

Thalassemia is a group of inherited blood disorders that affect the body’s ability to produce haemoglobin, the iron-containing protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to all parts of the body. The leukocyte filter sets prevent adverse reaction during blood transfusions. It has been two years since the supply of these medical devices from the blood bank of the medical college hospital was stopped, say functionaries of the Blood Patients Protection Council, Kerala.

Patients in government district hospitals in Kannur and Palakkad, and the Government Medical College Hospital, Wayanad, too are in a similar situation, public health activists say.

According to them, the patients are forced to buy the filter sets paying around ₹1,200 per piece from a private company in Ernakulam. One filter set can be used only up to thrice a month. The device once used in a patient cannot be used in another patient. However, poor patients, who cannot afford to buy them, are getting blood transfusion done without these devices, they say.

Kareem Karassery, president of the council, claims that though the Kerala Medical Services Corporation had floated tenders to purchase leukocyte filter sets and iron chelation drugs, the medications used to remove excess iron in patients undergoing blood transfusion, only those supplying the filter sets participated in the process. “It is not yet clear if the corporation will start the tendering process all over again or resume the ongoing bid to procure the filter sets alone,” he says.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission has asked the Director, Health Services, to submit a report on the matter. The patients, however, claim that though the Commission has been proactive in addressing their concerns, the official process seems to be moving at a slow pace.

Mr. Karassery says that the Health department should take steps to resume the tender process and procure the leukocyte filter sets alone for now as there is no severe shortage of iron chelation drugs, except in Thiruvananthapuram.