Friday, November 30, 2007

Paying for India's Blood Banks

India has recently instituted a plan to restock its blood banks and improve the quality of donations by reducing the proportion of blood that is contaminated with HIV. A report on the iGovernment site describes some of the approaches contained in the plan. Further, the government of India invites private corporations to assist with the safe blood initiative.

This story does not fully state the design of the plan besides emphasis thatblood banks are to be established in 600 districts, I am inclined to think the most cost effective approach. An interesting advantage is India's youthful population who ought then to be encouraged to consider contribution to the blood banks. While this blogger understands that the quality of the supply of blood may also vary by the eligible population, a direct cash payment to the healthy donors would provide an appropriate incentive to ensure that the donors whose contributions expose recipients to the least risks are compensated. That is the assistance that corporate sponsors of the programme should concentrate on as opposed to funding the bureaucracy.

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