UK issues urgent call for more Indian, South Asian COVID-19 plasma donors
London: The UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) on Friday issued an urgent call for people of Indian and South Asian heritage who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma to help save lives of others infected with the deadly virus.
According to experts, people from a South Asian background are around twice as likely to have high enough antibodies for their donations to be used in life-saving treatment trials, compared to white people.
The NHS said that this antibody-rich plasma, which could save the lives of people with coronavirus, is being sought urgently ahead of a feared second wave of the pandemic in the country later in the year.
We have had a fantastic response from the Asian community. COVID-19 is attacking the Asian community more than the wider community and donating plasma could save a life, said Rekha Anand, a Consultant Haematologist for NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which is a Special Health Authority in charge of blood and organ donation.
NHSBT said that its data shows that people of an Asian heritage have been donating in strong numbers, at over 7 per cent of all plasma donors so far, and also sought to highlight the donation as a safe and easy procedure.
Plasma donation is safe, clean and easy. It takes about 45 minutes and your body quickly replaces the plasma and the antibodies, explains Dr Shruthi Narayan, a Consultant Donor Medicine for NHSBT. Because your red blood cells are returned to you, you can carry on with your day as normal, she said.
A Public Health England (PHE) report had concluded that people from South Asian communities who have Covid-19 have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill and the emerging evidence is that the more seriously ill people become, the more antibodies they produce.
This seems to be borne out in statistics as NHSBT found that among first-time donors from an Asian background, 44.1 per cent (330 out of 749) had high enough antibodies for the trial, compared with 22.4 per cent (2,126 out of 9,509) of white donors.
Some people may feel nervous about donating, particularly if they've had a tough time with coronavirus. Our donation team will look after you and people usually feel fantastic after donating, knowing they are doing something to help the community, said Dr Suhail Asghar, from NHSBT's Clinical Support Team.
Plasma donor centres have been set up across all major towns and cities of the UK, especially those with a significant South Asian population, including London, Birmingham, Leicester and Manchester.
Dr Naim Akhtar, a Consultant in Donor Medicine for NHSBT, added: Plasma donation is a way to help those who are in need. By donating plasma, you could help someone to survive from COVID and spend more time with their family.
The NHSBT campaign involving experts from a South Asian heritage for more plasma donors follows the UK government's appeal earlier this week for more people of Indian and South Asian origin to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine trials, after a low rate of sign up from these communities to the Vaccine Research Registry.
A targeted recruitment programme broadcast in Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali and Urdu is among the measures being deployed to reach out to different communities to ensure any future vaccine that clears all trials works for everyone.
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CT Ravi seeks impartial probe into Ballari clash, firing incident
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Chikkamagaluru: Legislative Council member C.T. Ravi on Friday called for an impartial and fair investigation into the banner-related clash and firing incident that occurred in Ballari.
Speaking to reporters in Chikkamagaluru, Ravi said the incident must be investigated thoroughly without prejudice or hatred influencing the probe. He said it was important to clearly establish who opened fire and who was responsible for the killing.
Referring to Valmiki Jayanti celebrations, Ravi said it was the BJP government that began officially observing the occasion, while the Congress, he alleged, had earlier denied the existence of Lord Ram and indirectly questioned the legacy of Valmiki. He recalled that during the Ram Setu case, the Congress had told the Supreme Court that Ram was a fictional character and not a historical figure.
On the Ballari incident, Ravi said registering cases or taking action with malicious intent was not appropriate. He added that whether banners were put up with permission or without it, forcibly removing them was wrong. If banners had been erected without permission, a complaint could have been filed instead.
Ravi also questioned how the government could justify people going near the residence of G. Janardhan Reddy to display strength. He said these circumstances suggested that the banner issue may only have been a pretext and that there could be other factors behind the violence.
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