The National Blood Transfusion Bill, 2025, is a proposed legislation recently introduced in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. It aims to create a dedicated legal framework to regulate the entire spectrum of blood services in India—from collection and testing to storage and transfusion.

• Core Goal: To treat blood not just as a “drug” (as currently classified) but as a life-saving public resource that requires specialized governance.

• Key Proposal: It seeks to establish a statutory body called the National Blood Transfusion Authority (NBTA) to oversee these services nationwide.

Currently, blood banks in India are regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which treats blood primarily as a pharmaceutical product. This has led to several gaps:

• Fragmented System: There is no central authority dedicated solely to blood safety, leading to inconsistent standards across states.

• Safety Concerns: Without uniform, stringent monitoring, there are risks of transfusion-transmissible infections (like HIV or Hepatitis) due to poor testing in some unregulated or smaller centers.

• Shortages & “Blood Deserts”: Efficient distribution is lacking, causing surpluses in cities while rural areas face acute shortages.

The Bill is designed to directly impact patient safety and accessibility:

• Guaranteed Safety: Patients can be assured that the blood they receive has undergone standardized, high-quality testing, regardless of where they are in India.

• Better Access: A centralized authority will help coordinate supply, ensuring blood reaches patients in need (e.g., accident victims, surgery patients) more actively.

• Grievance Redressal: It creates a mechanism for patients to report negligence or unsafe practices, holding blood banks accountable.

The Bill proposes a comprehensive overhaul of the current system. Key coverage areas include:

• National Blood Transfusion Authority (NBTA): A central body to set standards, issue guidelines, and monitor compliance.

• Standardization: Uniform protocols for donor selection, blood collection, testing, and storage.

• Haemovigilance: A mandatory surveillance system to track and report adverse reactions to blood transfusions (e.g., if a patient falls ill after a transfusion).

• Voluntary Donation: It explicitly promotes and regulates voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation to reduce reliance on “replacement donors” (family members forced to donate in emergencies).

• Penalties: Stringent legal penalties for blood centers that violate safety norms or operate without a license.

This legislation is critical because:

• It’s a Lifeline for Chronic Patients: For people with Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anaemia, and Hemophilia, safe blood is a daily necessity, not a choice. This bill ensures their lifeline is not compromised by poor quality.

• Public Trust: It restores faith in the medical system by ensuring that the blood supply chain is transparent and ethical.

• Global Standards: It aligns India’s blood transfusion services with international best practices, moving away from a fragmented approach to a unified, national safety net.

One of the most significant goals of this Bill is to phase out the “replacement donor” system, where hospitals force patient families to bring a donor in exchange for blood.

• The Change: The Bill mandates a shift toward 100% voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation.

• The Benefit: In emergencies, families will not be burdened with finding a donor immediately. Instead, blood banks will be required to maintain sufficient stocks through regular voluntary drives, making blood available “off the shelf” based on need, not exchange.

Currently, illegal hoarding and selling of blood occur due to weak monitoring. The Bill introduces strict measures to curb this:

• traceability: It proposes a digital tracking system (likely expanding on the e-RaktKosh portal) where every unit of blood is tracked from “vein to vein” (donor to recipient).

• Standardized Charges: The National Blood Transfusion Authority (NBTA) will have the power to regulate service charges, ensuring that private blood banks cannot charge exorbitant processing fees under the guise of “administrative costs.”

• Criminal Penalties: Selling blood for profit or operating an unlicensed storage center will attract harsh prison sentences and heavy fines.

• Uniform Standards: Many smaller centers currently operate with limited equipment. Under the new Bill, they must meet the National Standards for safety, storage, and testing to retain their license.

• Hub-and-Spoke Model: Smaller centers that cannot meet high testing standards may be converted into “Blood Storage Centers” (spokes). They will not collect blood but will receive safe, pre-tested blood from larger, fully equipped “Mother Blood Banks” (hubs). This ensures that a patient in a rural nursing home gets blood as safe as a patient in a top city hospital.

Yes. The definition of “Blood” and “Blood Products” in the Bill is broad and forward-looking.

• It brings apheresis (separating platelets/plasma directly from a donor) and stem cell/cord blood banking under the same regulatory umbrella.

• This prevents unregulated clinics from offering unproven “stem cell therapies” and ensures that cord blood banks follow strict ethical and safety guidelines for storage.

The Bill establishes a clear Grievance Redressal Mechanism.

• Previously, patients had to rely on general consumer courts or scattered medical councils.

• Now, the NBTA (National Authority) and its state counterparts will have dedicated wings to handle complaints regarding blood denial, unsafe practices, or overcharging. This empowers the “common man” to demand accountability directly.