KP govt plans to set up blood centres in three districts

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has planned to establish regional blood centres in Abbottabad, Dera Ismail Khan and Swat districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said officials.

The government took over the Regional Blood Centre (RBC) in Hayatabad, Peshawar earlier July this year. Since then, the RBC in Peshawar has catered to the needs of over 14,000 patients who were provided with safe and specific blood components which meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

Manager for the RBC, Dr Saba, said that blood was collected from donors maintaining the highest standards, costing more than Rs4,000 per bag, and was converted into different components i.e. plasma, Red Blood Cells and platelets.

She said the blood centres throughout the province provided whole blood that increased complexities in patients as only a single component of blood was required in majority of the cases. The manager said, "Over 4,000 dengue patients have been provided with platelet bags since the dengue epidemic this year. More than 80 apheresis bags, that cost more than Rs20,000 per bag, were also provided to patients in critical conditions free of cost. This facility is only available at the RBC in Peshawar."

Dr Saba added that the RBC in Peshawar and blood donating agencies throughout the province would soon be registered with KP Blood Authority established under the Blood Transfusion Act 2016.

Project Director Safe Blood Transfusion Dr Shams Afridi said that the government had allocated Rs260 million budget for the year 2017-18 to meet the requirements of the RBC. However, he said the budget had already been utilised and currently Rs23 million additional grant had been provided by the government to meet the expenses of the RBC.

The doctor said, "We provide blood to patients who are referred to us by the six major hospitals in Peshawar i.e. Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital, Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Naseerullah Babar Hospital and Maternity Hospital in Peshawar." While commenting on the initiative, Deputy Director Safe Blood Transfusion Dr Ghulam Farooq said that the construction of three new RBCs would cost Rs676 million for which the government had agreed to contribute Rs290 million.

The official said, "The remaining budget will be met by German donors KFW. Here we have latest equipment that is not available elsewhere in the province. Blood from our RBC is used in treating patients with thalassemia, dengue, haemophilia and to control infant mortality, maternal mortality, spread of HIV and hepatitis B and C."