Gonoshasthaya Kendra aims to set up plasma bank for COVID-19 treatment

After developing coronavirus testing kits, the Gonoshasthaya Kendra has set its sights on establishing a plasma bank to facilitate treatment of COVID-19 patients.

“We are working on it,” Gonoshasthaya founder and Trustee Zafrullah Chowdhury told bdnews24.com on Friday while seeking cooperation from all corners.

Zafrullah himself took convalescent plasma therapy at home on Tuesday and Thursday for COVID-19 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

In convalescent plasma therapy, blood plasma from the recovered patients is transfused into current patients with the hope the freshly-made antibodies it contains will help fight the virus.

Bangladesh has recently begun trialling the therapy.

Zafrullah said Prof Mohiuddin Ahmed Khan of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Dr Hamid of Dhaka Shishu Hospital were on board with Gonoshasthaya Kendra in the plasma bank project, which would need tens of millions of takas.

“They are doing a great job. We want to do it on a big scale at the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital so that we can provide plasma to 100 patients daily,” he said.

It was Prof Mohiuddin who advised him to take plasma therapy, according to him.

“I got the plasma from the DMCH. It works like magic. I can feel it. I felt weak on being infected. Now I feel better after taking plasma,” said Zafrullah, a doctor by training.

The Gonoshasthaya founder pointed out that it will be difficult to get plasma for all COVID-19 patients.

“But it can’t be that only a few of us will get it while the members of the public won’t,” added the public health campaigner who fought the war in 1971 to make Bangladesh independent from Pakistan.