Blood Transfusion Centers To Be Established

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Augst,2016) : The government would establish modern blood transfusion centers to sensitize and mobilize voluntary blood donors and collect their blood for deserving patients. With start of this modern blood center, the citizens of the federal capital will have a model transfusion service delivery system, National Coordinator, Project Director Safe Blood Transfusion Program Prof.

Hasan Abbas Zaheer said while talking to APP on Thursday. He said with establishment of this center, collected blood will be processed, tested, screened and blood components prepared and stored according to international quality assured systems. He said that prepared blood components will be supplied to all the public and private sector hospitals in Islamabad.

The existing blood banks in the Islamabad hospitals will be re-modeled and transformed into patient oriented blood banks who will only collect the prepared components and store them until utilized by the patients.

The new system, managed by a computerized management information system, will improve blood safety, bring economy of scales, prevent duplication of services and rely 100% on voluntary blood donations.

Islamabad Blood center would develop international collaborations for training, research and development and serve as a model for the provinces to emulate, he added.

The target is to have the new blood center completely reliant on the voluntary and regular blood donations who are the safest blood donors. This will also ensure that the patients are not burdened with the task of providing blood donors.

Through the phase-I implementation of this project the standard of blood transfusion services in the country has already significantly improved.

Prof. Hasan Abbas said that the highest standards of construction will be maintained and latest modern equipment will be provided for this center and for the hospital blood banks in Islamabad.

He said that similar regional blood centers and hospital blood banks have been successfully developed and equipped in the first phase of the project all over the country and now the German government was supporting the second phase of this project to expand the scope and coverage of the project in Pakistan. He said that the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme was working with great commitment and dedication to implement this project and to promote the culture of voluntary blood donations in Islamabad.

He thanked the German government support for the blood project and said that access to safe and quality blood was a key priority of the government in the health sector. He said blood safety encompasses actions aimed at ensuring that everyone has access to blood and blood products that are as safe as possible, available at reasonable cost, adequate to meet the needs of patients, transfused only when necessary, and provided as part of a sustainable blood programme within the existing health care system.

Prof. Hasan Abbas said with the objective to enhance blood safety at all levels, the government has initiated a comprehensive reform process of the blood transfusion system. These reforms are based on the internationally recommended model of a nationally coordinated blood transfusion system, in which the Safe Blood Transfusion Programmes of federating units harmonize their approaches gradually introduce functional separation between regional blood centers and restructured and refurbished hospital blood banks.