To provide support and coordination to the provincial activities in the implementation of the Blood Transfusion Program in Sindh, the National Blood Transfusion Programme (NBTP) with the Technical Assistance from GTZ Health Programme organized a working group meeting held recently at department of health, Karachi.
Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi, Secretary Health, Government of Sindh chaired the meeting. In his address, he appreciated the efforts of National Blood Transfusion Programme. Dr. Seema Najeeb, Special Secretary, Public Health was also present on the occasion.
National Programme Manager, NBTP, Dr. Hasan Abbas Zaheer in his address gave a brief overview of the project. He said that the idea of this blood safety project originated in 2004 when German government offered support to Pakistan for blood safety initiative in the country. The working on the project was started in 2008 when all stakeholders agreed to develop the PC-1s of the program. In March 2010 all six PC1s (federal, provincial and state) were approved. Then later on in June 2010, National Blood Transfusion Programme was launched by the Ministry of Health.
The project is based on infrastructure development throughout the country in the form of construction of regional blood centres. In Sindh, four regional centres will be established in Karachi, Jamshoro, Nawabshah and Sukkur. Each regional centre will be linked to six existing hospital based blood banks. These regional centres will distribute blood to each of six hospital based blood banks. These hospital based blood banks will only be receiving blood components from regional centres.
The NPM also requested the Chair to organize ‘Ground Breaking’ ceremonies of the Sindh RBTCs in Karachi and other cities.
Provincial Programme Manager, Sindh Blood Transfusion Programme, Dr. Zahid Hasan Ansari gave an update on provincial programme. He informed that the purpose of this project is to introduce uniformity and standardization in the quality of blood and blood products. He also informed that the DoH has constituted a Recruitment Committee, a Project Review Committee and a Provincial Steering Committee. The PPM stated that the final clearance for the Administrative Approval of the Sindh BT PC-1 is awaited from the CM Secretariat. He endorsed the NPM proposal about ‘Ground Breaking’ ceremonies and would initiate the same for Karachi RBTC first.
Technical Expert, GTZ Technical Assistance Team, Dr. Zainab Mukhtar said that GTZ is involved in three pillar from the leadership governance i.e. work force, healthcare financing and healthcare service delivery. She made a presentation on role of the Technical Component in the project and the provided a brief description of their work thus far. She also highlighted the role of BTA and BTS under the new system and the need for operationalization of these structures at provincial level.
The KfW (German Development Bank) Project Manager, Dr. Masuma Zaidi briefly introduced the KfW health projects in Pakistan and endorsed the NPM’s request for full operationalization of the PC-1 to facilitate implementation of financial component. The EPOS National Coordinator, Mr. Zahid Mahmood in his presentation spoke about the scope and services of the Financial Component. He informed that the EPOS architect is currently visiting the Sindh RBTCs site and holding discussions with local authorities. The design of the RBTCs is also under preparation.
The Chair appreciated to the German government for supporting the safe blood transfusion project and the National Programme for providing the leadership role and assured full support of the Sindh health department in project implementation in the province.