Bangladesh’s Gonoshasthaya hospital opens COVID-19 plasma centre

Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in Dhaka has launched a plasma and blood donation centre in a bid to speed up the treatment of COVID-19 patients amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It aims to collect plasma from 25 people, who have recovered from the coronavirus disease and thus have antibodies to fight the virus, daily.

COVID-19 patients will be able to get convalescent plasma therapy 24 hours a day at the centre at approximately Tk 5,000.

The immune system of an infected person creates natural antibodies to fight the virus. The antibodies grow in number over time in the plasma of an infected person. Through plasma therapy, the antibodies are used to treat other infected patients.

Dr MA Khan speaks during the inauguration ceremony of a plasma centre at the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in Dhaka's Dhanmondi on Saturday. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Dr MA Khan, professor of Dhaka Medical College's haematology department who touted the use of plasma therapy to treat COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh in early April, inaugurated the Gonoshasthaya Plasma Centre on Saturday.

Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, the founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, and Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, the lead researcher Gonoshasthaya Pharmaceuticals, were present during the inaugural ceremony.

Khan said doctors suggest convalescent plasma for low-income countries considering that the injections used in COVID-19 treatment cost Tk 30,000 to Tk 60,000 per patient.

He also noted that plasma therapy's chances of success are low if the patient is not given a sufficient concentration of antibody-rich plasma in the early stages of the infection. Khan is heading a committee overseeing plasma therapy trials.

He stressed the need for antibody testing to find out the level of antibodies in the donors’ blood.

Zafrullah said Bangladesh should focus on plasma therapy, which he had undergone after contracting the virus. Every district should have at least one plasma centre, he said.

The Gonoshasthaya trustee derided the authorities for denying the organisation approval for its rapid antibody test kits to detect coronavirus infection. The authorities said the kits failed efficacy tests.

The organisation suffered a Tk 100 million loss for the rejection of the kits, according to Zafrullah.

“Bangladesh has become a country that only makes policies. No-one works here, but annoys the others. This government has made mistakes in every step,” he said. 

He also criticised the government for delaying the approval for a late-stage trial of a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by China’s Sinovac.