Health minister inaugurates regional blood centre in Karachi

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho on Wednesday inaugurated the fourth Regional Blood Centre established by the German government through the KfW (German Development Bank) at the Qatar Hospital Karachi, and urged the people to donate blood as a much as possible to save lives of thousands of patients.

“People should regularly donate blood to save lives of thousands of people who daily need blood transfusion. People should not buy blood as this could result in causing lethal, blood-borne infections,” she said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the centre at a hotel.

German Consul General in Karachi Eugen Wollfarth; Christian Kraemer, regional director KfW, Frankfurt; Wolfgang Moellers, director KfW Pakistan; Dr Masuma Zaidi, senior coordinator, KfW Pakistan; Lt-Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider HI (M), chairman Fatimid Foundation; Zahid Abbasi, secretary for health; Prof Hasan Abbas Zaheer, national coordinator of the SBTP; and Dr Dur e Naz, director of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) were present on the occasion.

The German government through its organisation KfW (German Development Bank) led the establishment of four regional blood centres, one each in Karachi, Jamshoro, Nawabshah and Sukkur, and the Sindh health department decided to hand them over to the private sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode to make them operational.

The Regional Blood Centre at the Qatar Hospital established with Rs150 million has been handed over to the Fatimid Foundation, which is one of the leading organisations working in the field of blood collection, screening and supply to patients in Karachi.

The health minister said Karachi’s RBC was among the 15 centres that had been constructed with the German government grant of Rs3.5 Billion (25 million euros) through the KfW as part of the establishment of a nationwide network of modern blood centres and upgradation of 82 hospital blood banks.

“In Sindh, four RBCs have been established, including one each in Sukkur, Nawabshah, Jamshoro and Karachi, and while the hospital- based blood banks were provided with blood storage equipment at a total cost of Rs710 million,” she added.

Under Phase II, Fatimid Blood Bank in Karachi and the government blood banks, i.e. at the JPMC Karachi, Civil Hospital Karachi and Civil Hospital Korangi, would be upgraded and strengthened with the support of the KfW, she said.

Dr Pechuho appreciated the German government and the KfW for the gift of the four regional blood centres to the people of Sindh and also praised the German delegation for especially participating in the inaugural ceremony of the RBC Karachi.

“In order to achieve the quality standards and ensure the supply of safe blood, the management of the Karachi and Nawabshah regional blood centres has been outsourced to Fatimid Foundation under the private-public-partnership. The RBCs of Jamshoro and Sukkur are fully operationalised through the Indus Health Network and Sukkur Blood Bank & Drugs Society, respectively.”

KfW regional director Christian Kraemer praised the minister and the secretary for health for their keen interest in the implementation of the Safe Blood Transfusion Project in Sindh.

He hoped that the centres would herald a new era of blood safety for the people of Sindh. He termed the Safe Blood Transfusion Project a success story, and appreciated the untiring efforts of Fatimid Foundation and the government in making the project a success.

The German official urged the health minister to immediately link all the 24 hospital blood banks with these four RBCs for the supply of safe blood products and complete upgradation works at the Korangi Blood Bank.

Health Secretary Zahid Ali Abbasi in his remarks thanked the German government, KfW and the health minister their financial and technical support, and assured them of immediately linking all the HBBs with the RBCs and releasing funds for the upgradation of the Korangi Blood Bank.

Without the German Government’s generous support, Sindh would not have these modern RBCs, he said and vowed that that the government would bear the operational costs, including staffing, consumables, utilities, and vehicles. He also thanked the EPOS, the German consulting firm, for designing and implementing the project.

National Coordinator Prof Hasan Abbas Zaheer spoke on the occasion and said the organisation of the RBC’s inauguration was a sign of commitment of the Sindh government and their partner, Fatimid Foundation, to promote quality transfusion services for the people of Karachi. He thanked the German partners for their support for the project.

Chairman Fatimid Foundation Lt-Gen (retd) Moin Uddin Haider thanked the Sindh government for putting their trust and confidence in Fatimid Foundation by giving the management of the RBCs of Benazirabad and Karachi to it. He vowed the supply of safe blood products/components to the attached hospitals by following international quality standards.

He requested the health practitioners and health managers to cooperate with the RBC management for rationale use of blood and blood components, and reassured the KfW to provide quality blood services to the people of Sindh.