Supreme Court to look into feasibility of NAT for blood transfusion

Supreme Court to assess mandatory Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) for blood transfusions to enhance safety and protect patient rights.

The Supreme Court has decided to look into whether blood banks should compulsorily conduct the Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) for identification of diseases.

NAT is a highly sensitive molecular technique that detects the genetic material for viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in the blood.

Also read: What is ID-NAT?

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi asked advocate A. Velan, counsel for petitioner-NGO Sarvesham Mangalam Foundation, about the cost-effectiveness of NAT compared to the more commonly used Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test.

The Chief Justice questioned if all the States could afford NAT in government blood banks and hospitals.

Mr. Velan said the costs were comparatively low for the NAT.