Islamabad : Parliamentary Secretary for Health Services and Regulations Dr. Nausheen Hamid laid the foundation stone of the Islamabad Regional Blood Centre here on Thursday.
The centre will be constructed and equipped with the Rs175 million support of the German government through KFW-German Development Bank.
The German government was represented in the ceremony by head of the Health Division at KfW Dr Marlin Seiburger, KfW country director Wolfgang Moellers and German Embassy staff member Zoll.
Also present on the occasion were Project Director of the Safe Blood Transfusion Programme Prof Hasan Abbas Zaheer, coordinator (health sector) at KfW Dr. Masuma Zaidi and EPOS team leader Zahid Mahmood, representatives of licensed blood banks in Islamabad, stakeholders and media representatives.
The Islamabad centre is among 15 regional blood centres (RBCs) being developed or upgraded in the Phase II of the project through the German government grant worth Rs1.1 billion.
In the Phase-I, a nationwide network of 10 RBCs and up-gradation of 59 existing hospital-based blood banks was successfully completed with Rs1.8 billion.
The parliamentary secretary thanked the German government for the helping build the blood centre for the people of Islamabad.
She said the government was committed to improving the blood safety standards in the country and the development of a model Regional Blood Centre in Islamabad would go a long way in achieving that goal.
The parliamentary secretary appealed to the residents especially youths to donate voluntary blood on a regular basis to sustain the Islamabad centre.
She praised Prof Zaheer for his leadership for and commitment to the safe blood transfusion project and requested the German government to support another round of funding and develop at least 10 more RBCs in the country.
German delegation leader Dr. Sieburger appreciated the Pakistani government’s commitment to improving the access to safe blood.
She expressed the hope that the German government funded Blood Centres will herald a new era of blood safety for the people of Pakistan. She termed the Safe Blood Transfusion Project a ‘success story’ and appreciated the untiring efforts of Prof. Zaheer, the pioneer of the project in making the project a success. She expressed her delight at the continuing impressive implementation of the blood project after the successful commissioning of the Phase I Regional Blood Centres all over the country.
Prof. Zaheer said the centre would serve as a model blood centre of the country and cover the entire transfusion needs of the two million residents of the federal capital.
