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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Karnataka MLA Vinay Kulkarni disqualified after conviction in Goudar murder case
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Saturday issued an official notification regarding the disqualification of Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni following his conviction in the murder case of BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar.
The former minister is currently in prison, serving life imprisonment in the case.
“Consequent upon the conviction of Vinay Kulkarni, Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly representing the Dharwad constituency, by the LXXXI Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge, Bengaluru City (CCH-82), in Spl CC No. 565/2021, he stands disqualified from the membership of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the date of conviction, i.e, April 15, 2026,” the notification read.
“He stands disqualified in terms of the provisions of Article 191(1)(e) of the Constitution of India, read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and such disqualification shall continue for a further period of six years after his release, unless the conviction is stayed by a competent court,” it added.
Hence, one seat in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has fallen vacant, the notification said.
Bypolls were held on April 9 to fill two other seats in the 224-member Assembly that fell vacant due to the death of sitting MLAs. The results will be declared on May 4.
On April 15, Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder. Subsequently, on April 17, the court sentenced Kulkarni and 15 others convicted in the case to life imprisonment.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP Zilla Panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at that time. Hired assailants attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym at Saptapur in Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
The CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet in 2020, naming Vinay Kulkarni as the “main conspirator.” It alleged that he perceived Yogeshgouda Goudar as a growing political rival in Dharwad and hired contract killers to eliminate him.
Kulkarni was arrested by the CBI in 2020. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August 2021 under certain conditions, including a ban on entering Dharwad district. However, in June 2025, the apex court cancelled his bail following allegations of witness tampering and attempts to influence prosecution witnesses.
Kulkarni again sought bail in January 2026, but the High Court rejected it, citing judicial propriety.
However, the Supreme Court granted him bail on February 27 after noting that all witnesses had been examined.
