From correspondents in Delhi, India, 12:30 AM IST

In a major boost for patients who require repeated transfusions, the government Wednesday approved the establishment of a plasma fractionation centre at a cost of Rs.1.85 billion.

'The direct benefit is to ensure access of plasma derivatives to needy patients at affordable prices,' Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

'This will also reduce our dependence to imports of Factor VIII and Factor IX (plasma derivatives) and save foreign exchange,' he added.

The facility, which will be able to process 150,000 litres of blood annually, would be set up near a major blood bank, 'presumably in one of the metros', the finance minister said.

Plasma is one of the components of blood and can be used for preparing several plasma derivatives. Transfusion of plasma and administration of plasma fractionation derivatives is indicated for many medical conditions as a life saving measure in conditions such as Hemophilia-A, Hemophilia-B, Von-Willebrnd's disease, immunodeficiencies and others.

Such patients require periodic transfusion of a desired plasma product for their clinical management. However, in the absence of access to these derivatives, whole blood is used - which is sub-optimal use of the blood.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)