Unbanked direct blood transfusions should be legal, say Indian surgeons

Surgeons and health activists have called on the Indian government to make the practice of unbanked direct blood transfusion legal again to meet the needs of people living in rural areas.

The Association of Rural Surgeons of India, Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS), a non-governmental organisation serving in rural and tribal areas, and the Christian Coalition for Health in India say that unbanked direct blood transfusions (UDBTs) are vital in some parts of India. UDBT involves testing potential donors for blood type and screening the blood for infections and then transfusing directly to the patient without any banking or storage.

Raman Kataria, a doctor serving in rural Chhattisgarh, and a cofounder of JSS, told the BMJ, “This [unbanked direct blood transfusion] …