Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Choudhry performed the ‘ground breaking’ ceremony of the Islamabad regional blood center (RBC) on Wednesday. It would provide safe blood and blood products to about two million residents of Islamabad and surrounding areas.
The centre would be constructed and equipped with the support of the German government through KFW-German Development Bank, amounting to Rs175 million (Euro 1.6 million).
The government of Germany was represented in the ceremony by Head of Division Afghanistan/Pakistan Doctor Henning Plate and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation & Development (BMZ) Wolfgang Moellers.
Additional Secretary CADD Doctor Jamal Yousaf, Professor Hasan Abbas Zaheer, Safe Blood Transfusion Programme Project Director Doctor Masuma Zaidi, team leader EPOS Zahid Mahmood were present on the occasion.
Other participants included representatives of licensed blood banks in Islamabad, stakeholders and media representatives.
The Islamabad centre is among the 15 regional blood centres (RBCs) that are being developed or upgraded in the second phase of the project.
In addition, up to 30 hospital blood banks would also be renovated and equipped through the German government grant worth Rs1.1 billion (10 million Euros).
Earlier, in the first Phase, a nationwide network of 10 RBCs and up-gradation of 59 existing hospital based blood banks was successfully developed with Rs1.8 billion (15 million Euros).
Speaking on the occasion, the CADD minister expressed his gratitude to the German government for the gift of a blood centre to the people of Islamabad.
The minister stated that the present government is fully committed to improving the blood safety standards in the country and the development of a model regional blood center in Islamabad would go a long way in achieving this goal.
The minister appealed to the local population especially the youth to donate voluntary blood on a regular basis to sustain the new Islamabad centre.
The minister also acknowledged Professor Zaheer for his leadership and commitment in steering the blood project with exemplary zeal and devotion. To consolidate the gains of the project, the minister requested the German government to support another round of funding and develop 10 more RBCs in the country.
The German delegation leader Plate congratulated the minister and secretary for their keen interest in the implementation of the blood project in their region and appreciated government’s commitment to improve access of safe blood.
He expressed the hope that the German government funded blood centres will herald a new era of blood safety for the people of Pakistan. He termed the safe blood transfusion project a ‘success story’ and appreciated the untiring efforts of the federal and provincial teams in making this project a success.
The KFW country director expressed his delight at the second phase infrastructure function after the successful commissioning of the first phase regional blood centres in the provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Punjab.
In his remarks, Dr Jamal Yousaf thanked the German government for supporting the blood project in Islamabad and assured timely and smooth functioning of the centre upon completion.
Professor Zaheer informed that the facility will serve as a model blood centre for the country.
It will be a procurement and distribution centre, ensuring quality systems to regulate all activities including mobilization and retention of voluntary blood donors, maintenance of donor database, collection of blood donations and processing, screening, testing, component preparation and storage of the prepared components.
A customized MIS has been specially procured for the smooth functioning of the new system. He added that the blood components prepared in this centre would be provided to the linked public sector hospital blood banks which will be upgraded soon.
On completion of this modern centre, the existing hospital blood banks will be functionally remodeled and converted into patient oriented hospital transfusion services to perform the function of storage, distribution, compatibility testing and haemovigilance. The private and NGO sector hospitals would also be provided with blood components by the new centre.
