All blood banks to be registered in Punjab

Health Parliamentary Secretary Dr Saeed Elahi has said that it has been decided that all the blood banks of Punjab would be streamlined for the provision of healthy blood and no blood bank would be operated without license. He said that this decision would be a milestone for eradication of fatal diseases like Hepatitis C and AIDS.

He was presiding over a meeting of Punjab Blood Transfusion Authority (PBTA) on Wednesday. Dr Asad Ashraf, Health Additional Secretary Dr Anwar Janjua, Health DG Dr Nisar Ahmad Cheema, PBTA Secretary Dr Jafar Saleem, Col Maqbool Azam of CMH Lahore, Punjab AIDS Control Programme Director Dr Salman Shahid and other members attended the meeting.

Elahi said that all government and private blood banks in the province would be registered under Safe Blood Transfusion Act 1999. It was decided in the meeting to constitute blood awareness committees at provincial and district levels to encourage blood donors which would include government, journalists, showbiz, social workers and representatives of civil society.