30,000 blood bags used by PIMS for transfusion in one year

Islamabad : In last one year, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences transfused well over 30,000 blood pints to patients particularly suffering from thalassaemia, haemophilia, anaemia, various types of cancers, kidney failure, liver failure in hepatitis C and patients of bleeding after child birth, surgery and heavy bleeding in emergencies and road traffic accidents.

Approximately 96 per cent of the total blood bags collected by PIMS were from relatives and friends of the patients in need of blood transfusion at the hospital while only four per cent blood was collected through voluntary unpaid blood donors.

Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja shared this information with ‘The News’ in connection with World Blood Donor Day observed every year on June 14 around the globe.

He added the Blood Bank at PIMS is equipped with latest machinery and state of art equipment is used for extracting platelets, fresh frozen plasma. Most of the patients who were transfused blood at PIMS in last one year were those suffering from various kinds of cancers, hepatitis, thalassaemia and the patients with burn injuries and female patients admitted to the hospital for delivery cases, he said.

He said most of the blood bags were collected from relatives and friends of the patients admitted to the hospital and were transfused on replacement basis though a good number of blood pints were donated by voluntary unpaid donors too.

It is important that there are three types of blood donors: voluntary unpaid, family/replacement and paid donors. Family or replacement donors and paid donors still remain a significant source of blood for transfusion in many counties including Pakistan. Currently, an estimated 88 per cent of the blood is being donated by family members.

We request people to give blood voluntarily in any hospital in Pakistan to save lives and for registration of voluntary blood donation at PIMS, one may contact the PIMS administration at Phone No. 051-9261272, said Dr. Khawaja.