To mark the World Blood Donor Day, Safe Blood Transfusion Services Programme, Ministry for Capital Administration & Development, Govt of Pakistan organized a Awareness Seminar recently at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences,Islamabad. Federal Minster for Capital Administration & Development, Nazar Mohammad Gondal was the Chief Guest where as Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, Secretary CAD was also present. Dr. Hasan Abbas Zaheer, Project Director, Safe Blood Transfusion Programme also spoke on the occasion.
In his address, the Federal Minister Nazar Mohammad Gondal appreciated the efforts of the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme team in implementing this project of immense public health significance and in raising awareness about voluntary blood donation and the World Blood Donor Day. He said that the Pakistan People’s Party has a rich history of promoting voluntary blood donations and the present Government has taken concrete steps to ensure that every person in this country has access to safe blood for transfusion. Concrete step taken in this regard was development and approval of the federal and provincial PC-1s for the establishment of the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme in 2010.
The government also ensured that the committed funds were allocated despite the economic crunch due to the devastating floods of 2010 and 2011 and the on-going war on terrorism. These measures are indeed a great practical demonstration of the commitment of the present government to promote safe blood transfusion. In this regard, the government is very grateful to the Federal Republic of Germany for providing a very generous grant to develop the infrastructure of the new blood transfusion system in the country. The Minister appreciated the improvements planned for the PIMS blood transfusion service through this project and expected that the construction work on the state-of-the-art Regional Blood Transfusion Center will begin within the next three months.
Imtiaz Elahi, Federal Secretary recalled with satisfaction that the blood safety systems reforms initiated in 2008 during his tenure in the Ministry of Health have in a very short span of four years started to bear fruit. The Safe Blood Transfusion Services Programme established less than 2 years ago has today developed into a very impressive public health programme. The project has not only been successfully launched at the federal level but also in all the provinces. After the completion of the project infrastructure within the next two years, service delivery component of the project will become operational. In subsequent phases, the project coverage will be expanded.
The Project Director Dr. H.A Zaheer also spoke on the occasion and enumerated the progress of the Programme achieved in a very brief period of less than two years. He also appreciated the commitment of the present government to promote the cause of blood safety in the country and providing the committed funds to the Programme. He also thanked the German government for their support. Dr. Zaheer also briefly shared the activities organized by the Programme to celebrate the World Blood Donor Day inIslamabadto raise awareness about voluntary blood donation.