Plasma donors in Assam may get preference in jobs and government schemes as a gesture for helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donating plasma can also entail extra marks in interviews besides acknowledgement, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
“The plasma donors will get a certificate. We will consider giving preference to them in interviews, government schemes, etc. For instance, a plasma donor will get two extra marks if he or she is tied in any test or interview,” he said.
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“Similarly, the name of someone at the bottom of the beneficiary list for PMAY [Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana] will be put on top if that person is a plasma donor,” the Minister said, appealing to people who recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma.
No negative impact
Dr. Sarma underscored observations in India and the U.S. that plasma therapy had no negative impact and 90% of patients recovered if plasma was donated to a patient in a moderate state of illness.
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He said plasma from one person could save two lives and only those who had COVID-19 symptoms and were in intensive treatment could donate.
The Minister said Assam was on its way to setting up a plasma bank.
“Hospitals in several States are yet to have a plasma bank. The plasma of the COVID-19 recovered people there will be wasted. So, we will campaign beyond Assam and appeal to people to donate their plasma,” he said.
Guest house
People of other States who donate plasma would be provided with State guest house facilities if they visit Assam and the State government would bear the cost of their return air ticket.
A few people, including a doctor from Karnataka who is a postgraduate student at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, have donated their plasma in Assam.
Till July 15, Assam had 19,754 positive cases of whom 12,888 have recovered and 48 died. The death rate is 0.24% while the recovery rate is 65.24%, the fourth highest after Delhi, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.