Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday inaugurated the world's largest plasma therapy trial centre, in Nagpur. Maharashtra is the first State in the country to experiment extensively with plasma therapy for Covid-19, said a press statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office.

Plasma therapy facilities have been provided in 23 medical colleges in the State, out of which four are in Mumbai. The Nagpur facility will be a centralised hub. In this therapy, plasma drawn from persons cured of the infection is injected into the suffering patients. The plasma has antibodies, which are used for fighting infections.

Thackeray said in the press statement that the doctors in the State were also using plasma therapy for the first time on critically ill patients. In April, the first experimental plasma therapy was conducted in the State on a Covid patient. Given the positive results, permission from the Centre was sought for more tests.

The therapy had cured nine out of 10 patients because it was given on time. Therefore, the patients who have recovered from the infection should try to donate plasma for the treatment of other patients, he said.