PSP initiates blood donation campaign for thalassaemia patients

The Pak Sarzameen Party has initiated a campaign to arrange blood for thalassaemia patients amid acute shortage of blood donations due to the countrywide lockdown.

The announcement was made by PSP Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal at a press conference at the party’s secretariat. He said that the COVID-19 lockdown had not only affected the general public but also a large number of people suffering from thalassaemia who are in dire need of blood transfusions.

Currently, one lac children in Pakistan suffer from thalassaemia who need blood transfusions weekly, so nearly 200,000 pints of blood are needed per month to save the precious lives of thalassaemia patients, he said.

Kamal added that the government should take care of its citizens as the lockdown is being enforced. He urged the government to provide rations to the needy families. “We support actions of the federal and provincial governments in view of the coronavirus crisis as they have access to actual data of COVID patients and other related information.” He asked the government not to consider Karachi as a mere city. Karachi is running the financial and revenue affairs of the entire country, he said.

According to Kamal, the Sindh government had announced that billions of rupees had been distributed among people; however, no one knew how and where those donations were spent. He reiterated his demand to activate the 150,000 local bodies’ elected representatives through a presidential ordinance as only they could play the much needed role in handling the pandemic situation in Pakistan.

The PSP chairman expressed grief over the deaths of hundreds of Pakistanis living abroad. Overseas Pakistanis are the backbone of the country and their foreign exchange inflows run the national economy, he said, adding that the Pakistani living abroad had supported the country in every difficult moment.

The incumbent government has no organised system through which the problems of needy people could be addressed during such troubled times, Kamal said. He thanked the people who had visited the PSP’s blood donation camp, including Kashif Iqbal of the Thalassemia Center, and actors Mani and Hira.

On the occasion, Iqbal urged the people to donate blood so that the lives of children suffering from thalassaemia could be saved. “My dear child lost his life due to thalassaemia disease. I bore the painful demise of my son, so I want no other parent to go through this.”