PRC to register 100,000 blood donors across Pakistan
Islamabad
The Pakistan Red Crescent (PRC) unveiled its plan Friday to register 100,000 blood donors in addition to establishing 121 state-of-the-art laboratories with blood donor centres across the country.
The chairman of PRC Dr. Saeed Elahi shared this piece of information while addressing the launching ceremony of Red Crescent Laboratories and Blood Donor Centres here at the PRC national headquarter. Former commandant of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Major General (r) Farooq Ahmed, who was the chief guest on the occasion, inaugurated the first Red Crescent Laboratory along with the PRC management; IFRC Head of Delegation Ghorkhmaz Huseynov and ICRC Delegate Michael Myers were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Farooq Ahmed lauded the initiative and maintained that efforts like these play a crucial role in helping humanity.
“Blood donation is a specialty of PRC and the registration of 0.1 million blood donors is a new inclusion in our vision of achieving 5 million volunteers by 2020,” Dr. Saeed stated. He said, the newly established laboratories conform to international standards and will offer discounts to patients on all kinds of medical tests. Talking about the new initiative, he said, PRC will soon start blood-screening tests in jails, and in this regard, a pilot project is already underway at Adiala Jail where around 5,000 people would benefit from laboratory services.
PRC’s Secretary General Ghulam Muhammad Awan disclosed that the PRC Blood Donor Centre has launched a joint venture for laboratory expansion in collaboration with Gulf Marketing International. He said, latest technologies and up-to-date equipment for all kinds of laboratory tests will be installed in phase 1 of the expansion while radiography services such as X-Ray, CT scan, MRIs will be included in phase 2. “These laboratories are well-equipped and capable of performing 2,000 tests. He said, the Red Crescent laboratories will provide free services to Thalassemia patients.
The chief executive of Gulf Marketing International Rana Muhammad Shafiq termed it a historic moment for his company to join hands with PRC in this humanitarian cause. “Gold cards will be issued to all registered blood donors so that they can avail 20 per cent discounts on all tests,” he announced.
In the end, Dr. Saeed presented shields to Dr. Asma Cheema, Uzma Yaqoob, Dr. Wasifa, and to the chief guest.
