| Central bank to be set up to ensure adequate supply |
| Saturday, 14 June 2008 | |
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Sindh government is planning to set up a central blood bank in the city to ensure an adequate supply of blood according to the standards of the World Health Organisation (Who), official sources told The News on Wednesday. They said that the health department is preparing PC-I for this purpose. It will be an addition to the City District Government Karachi’s (CDGK) proposed blood bank, which is under construction, the officials said. They also said that two more blood banks at the premises of the Civil Hospital, Karachi (CHK) and the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) respectively will be established with the assistance of Germany. Official sources said that Germany had planned to set up around 22 blood banks across the country with an estimated cost of 23 million euros to ensure safe blood transfusion after conducting proper clinical screenings. Among them five such blood transfusion centres were supposed to be established in the Sindh province with an estimated cost of eight million euros. However, the project was met with certain complications. A senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Germany like other European countries had initially frozen funds of their projects following the promulgation of the emergency in the country. Subsequently, the donors also expressed their reservations against the supposed inconsistencies in the blood transfusion law of the four provinces and had suggested removing the same. The official said that in order to address their concerns, a new blood transfusion act is being prepared by the newly elected government, which will be passed by Parliament soon. Official sources said they had recommended Germany to set up six regional blood banks in the province. According to them, Germany had sent a letter to the health department in Sindh recently, indicating their intention to set up small blood banks in each district, which would be more feasible than a few regional banks. Meanwhile, official sources said that there are no pathologists at several district hospitals, while at other hospitals around three pathologists were working at the same time on account of detailment. There was no pathologist at district hospitals in Thatta, Thar, Kandkot, Kamber and Sanghar while there were three at the Dadu district hospital and two at the district hospital in Mirpurkhas, who were working on their favourite posting instead of performing their duty at their designated place. Blood banks have been set up at six teaching hospitals in the Sindh province and required essential instruments have also been provided at 17 district hospitals among a total of 23 districts, said Dr Nizamani A. Sattar, provincial deputy programme manager Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA). Talking to The News at his office he said that around 83 blood banks have been registered so far according to the Who standards, while 14 illegal banks have been sealed. Similarly, 95 pathological labs, which were also running blood banks, have been closed because standards at these banks were not up to mark. The SBTA was set up in 1997, through the Sindh Assembly act, inscribing two years imprisonment and Rs50,000 fine against illegal blood banks. However in 2005, the act was amended, enhancing imprisonment up to three years and a fine of Rs0.5 million. He said that around 16 to 18 per cent blood donors were suffering from Hepatitis B and C in the Sindh province. Another purpose was the motivation, recruitment and retention of blood donors and blood collection. In the past, blood used to be collected from paid donors who were mostly heroin or drug addicts. Dr Nizamani said that the government was also focusing on blood products. For the first time cell separators are being provided for making plasma and platelets, separating red blood cells from white blood cells. He said one such machine has already been provided at Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town while four more are being provided to Chandka Medical College, Larkana and People’s Medical College, Nawabshah, government hospitals in Hyderabad and Sukkur respectively. Funds have also been earmarked in the forthcoming budget for its proper running, he said. Shedding light on the major problem, he said there was a severe lack of pathologists. He regretted that certain consultants tend to recommend blood from illegal banks. He said 4 million blood bags were needed in the country while there were only about 1.5 million blood bags available for saving lives. Dr Nizamani said that if each university in the province reserved one day for blood donation each year, much of the problem could be resolved. He appreciated the good gesture of the diplomatic staff of the Royal consulate of Saudi Arabia, Karachi that donates blood for the needy. He suggested such initiatives should also be taken by other institutions and organisations on a regular basis. |
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