COVID-19 has brought misery to a large section of the Indian society who apart from being deprived of their livelihood also need to worry about the treatment for the ongoing pandemic. However, this pandemic has also opened up the doors for a certain section to leverage the situation and make extra money by withholding the supplies of essential medicines.
Plasma Donation has become an important part of COVID-19 treatment. Any person who has recovered from COVID-19 infections have some proteins called antibodies, circulating in their bodies to fight off the virus and preventing its multiplication. This liquid portion of the blood is called Plasma. COVID-19 convalescent plasma is the treatment where the blood is transferred from a recovered COVID-19 patient donor to the current infected patient. In order to make the donation, the donor must be officially diagnosed with COVID-19, meet all the requirements, and must be symptom-free for at least 14 days.
Ashok’s father-in-law was diagnosed with COVID 19 in Delhi and the doctors suggested Plasma theory to his family as his situation was worsening. Ashok immediately began his search starting from his social media circle of friends and colleagues. However, he was met with a roadblock in his search. Two of his friends who came forward to donate did not meet the criteria and there was no willing donor available in the market. At last, he had to go to the underground market where he had to shell out Rs 36,000 for the donation.
With the demand for Plasma far outweighing the supply, an underground market of plasma donors has flourished. The recovered patient who fulfills all the criteria to be a donor will sell his plasma to the highest bidder. The commercialization of this therapy has raised various ethical and legal questions. Even though nearly two-thirds of more than a million COVID infected have recovered in India, there is a lack of willing donors.
As the demand for plasma soars, so does the asking price of the donors. The starting price for a donor will be around Rs 30,000-50,000 if you are lucky and it may reach lakhs for antibody-rich plasma donors. A plasma bank was found charging up to ₹20,000 for the supply of 200ml of plasma to a critically ill patient. This is despite the legal provision under the National Blood Policy of 2007 which prevents an individual from charging for blood donations. The jail time for individuals dealing in the monetization of blood transfusion is 2 years.
The government has urged healthy recovered patients to donate plasma willfully. The government has also reached out to paramilitary and police personnel who have recovered from the disease to donate their plasma.
As the number of cases surges every day, it is getting difficult for the government to keep a check on the rising black market of convalescent plasma. It is essential that the government takes note of the breach and takes necessary steps to prevent the situations from getting out of hand. The spiraling price of plasma is already keeping the treatment out of reach from the poor and middle-class families. The government must ensure that the healthcare system should be available for all the sections of the property by regulating the process properly.