Gumla: Six months after it was shut down, the blood bank at Gumla Sadar Hospital has obtained a licence to begin operations, officials here said on Saturday. The centre was shut down by the state health department in November last year for failing to comply with regulations after the botched blood transfusion incident at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital in West Singhbhum district, where several children living with thalassemia were reportedly transfused with HIV-infected blood.Gumla deputy commissioner (DC) Dileshwar Mahto said the approval from the Union health ministry’s Central Licence Approving Authority was received on July 2. “The blood bank was functioning since 2018. Its licence expired in 2022, but it continued to operate on a limited basis. Following the alleged botched transfusion Chaibasa on November 27, 2025, our bank was also shut down as per state govt’s order in compliance with regulations,” he said.The blood bank’s closure had affected emergency cases and 250 patients across the district who are living with anaemia and thalassemia and require transfusions. With the blood bank shut, blood collected at the hospital were sent to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) in Ranchi, which allegedly supplied less blood than the amount deposited, creating a persistent shortage.
Children wait outside the blood bank at Gumla Sadar Hospital
Gumla civil surgeon Dr Shambu Nath Choudhary of the 250 patients who require regular transfusion, 60 have sickle cell anaemia and 83 are thalassaemic. “Most of them are children,” he said.“After getting the licence blood collected in the district can be stored locally and distributed among genuine beneficiaries,” Dr Anupam Kishore, deputy medical superintendent at the hospital, said. The DC said a blood donation camp will be organised at the collectorate on July 13 to augment blood stocks.Among those relieved is local resident Arbind Mishra, whose 10-year-old daughter suffers from thalassaemia and requires blood transfusions every fortnight. “My daughter requires blood transfusion every fortnight and this has been continuing for the last 10 years. During the closure of the blood bank, we suffered a lot. Now, I hope a solution will be in place,” he told TOI.
