Shortage of leukocyte filter sets continue to haunt thalassemia patients in Kozhikode

Thalassemia patients in Kozhikode district continue to flag the shortage of leukocyte filter sets in government hospitals even as the Health department authorities claim that directions have been issued to ensure their uninterrupted supply.

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder affecting the body’s ability to produce haemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen inside red blood cells. The patients need to go for regular blood transfusion depending on the severity of their condition. Leukocyte filter sets are used to prevent adverse reactions during the process.

Kareem Karassery, State president, Blood Patients’ Protection Council Kerala, says the situation continues to remain grim at the Institute of Maternal and Child Health attached to the medical college hospital and other government hospitals. The market price of each set for one-time use comes around ₹1,600. The patients may have to use it at least twice a month.

According to sources, the leukocyte filter sets were earlier distributed for free under the ‘Ashadhara’ scheme of the State government and the National Health Mission. It was stopped last year after some patients complained of adverse reactions after using the devices supplied by a public sector company that had bagged the contract for the purpose. Later, the Kerala State Blood Transfusion Council directed the respective hospitals to go for local purchases till the process is resumed. However, some of the hospitals stopped the local purchases as well from the beginning of the current financial year, claiming they had not got fresh official instructions to do so.

A Health department official told The Hindu on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) that steps are being taken to resume the supply of the leukocyte filter sets through Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. Instructions have been issued to the hospital authorities to make arrangements to ensure that their distribution is not affected till then, he adds.

However, Mr. Karassery claims that the patients’ families were being forced to procure them from outside the district at an exorbitant price. He points out that the patients dependent on the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Government District Hospital, Kasaragod, too were facing similar problems.