Safe Blood Transfusion Programme, Islamabad to celebrate World Blood Donor Day 2016 organised Seminar and Awards Ceremony at the Pakistan National Council of Arts, Islamabad.
Dr. Tariq Fazal Choudhry, Minister of State, Capital Administration & Development Division was the chief guest at the World Blood Donor Day celebrations whereas representatives from Dr. Kamran Ajaib from GIZ, Dr. Masuma Zaidi from KfW, Dr. Zulfiqar Khan from WHO and Dr. Jamal Nasir, President, Green Task Force were present on the occasion.
Dr. Tariq Fazal Choudhry appreciated the committed efforts of the Blood Programme for rendering invaluable services for making possible access to safe blood for transfusion to all in the country. He said that the project has picked up pace in the last three years as the government places great emphasis on blood safety. He announced that the construction of a modern Regional Blood Centre in Islamabad will begin soon, hopefully within this month, through the second phase of the project which has just commenced with the continued assistance of the German partners. This Centre will serve as blood procurement and distribution centre for the entire Islamabad ensuring quality systems to regulate all activities which will involve mobilization and retention of voluntary and regular blood donors, maintenance of donor database, collection of blood donations as well as processing, screening, testing, component preparation and storage of the prepared components.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Zaheer, Project Director, SBTP informed that it is very important to promote the culture of voluntary blood donations in Pakistan as the country essentially relies on the Family Replacement Donors to sustain the transfusion system. He said that to achieve this objective the healthy members of the society, particularly the youth, have to come forward and donate blood on a regular basis, three to four times a year. Prof. Zaheer added that the Islamabad Regional Blood Centre will be developed by the end of the next year which is proposed to have 100% reliance on voluntary and regular blood donors.
Representatives from the German government GIZ, KfW, WHO and Green Task Force also spoke on the occasion and appreciated the efforts of the government to improve the standard of blood transfusion in the country. They committed to support the Blood Programme not only for promoting voluntary blood donations but also all aspects of the vein-to-vein transfusion.
The SBTP had earlier organized a national poster and essay competition for college and university students under the global WBDD 2016 theme “Blood Connects Us All”. For the awareness purpose a quiz segment was also organized for the audience with simple questions related to voluntary blood donation. Those with the correct answer were awarded gift hampers and prizes. A video message on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day 2016 from the double Oscar Award winner Ms. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinnoy who is the Honorary Ambassador for Blood Safety in Pakistan was also presented during the function.
POSTER AND SPEECH COMPETITIONS
The College of Medical Laboratory Technology, National Institute of Health, Islamabad organized a speech and poster competition in collaboration with the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme (SBTP) and WHO as part of “World Blood Donor Day 2016 ” celebrations on May 19, 2016. The main objective was to acknowledge the participation of CMLT blood donor society and motivate students? voluntary blood donation. Promotional material (T-Shirts, caps, badges, pens, key chains) were distributed among the participants.
Dr. Amir Maqbool (Deputy Project Director SBTP), Mrs. Bedar Bakht (Principal CMLT, Mr. Shoaib Kayani (Incharge Students Literary Forum CMLT), Mrs. Farah Jamil (Lecturer CMLT) and Prof. Yousaf Naeem (Vice Principal CMLT) presented the wining shields and participation certificate to the participants.
A total of 16 posters were presented and 12 speeches were made by the students. Ms. Zahira Hanif, Student of BSc Hons won the first position in poster competition. Mr. Mohsin Aslam, Mr. Habi ur Rehman, Ms. Ayesha, Ms. Samreen Farman, Mr. Anees ur Rehman and Mr. Wajahat won positions in the Urdu and English speech completion.
Dr. Amir Maqbool, Deputy Project Director, SBTP, in his address appreciated the students, CMLT administration and Blood Donor Society on organizing the event. He also highlighted that the CMLT BDS should increase its voluntary donors pool by involving more male and female students.Posters were displayed at the event venue were very relevant and nicely prepared. Mr. Shoaib Kayani in his address said that CMLT BDS has provided around 300 voluntary blood donors to the national blood transfusion system. Blood Donor Society is famous in the newcomers also and every year students register themselves with the society and become regular blood donors for the rest of their lives. He also appreciated the role of SBTP in promoting voluntary blood donations and safe blood transfusions.
