Health experts raise awareness on safe blood transfusion

Organise a seminar at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

KARACHI: Medical experts have said that transfer of blood through unsecured means can lead to death.

They emphasised on the need to carry out screening tests before the transfer of blood to stop the spread of diseases.

The health experts, Prof Dr Iqbal Memon, in-charge of the blood bank at Jinnah hospital, Dr Muhammad Anwar, Dr Umar Daraz, Dr Khalid Bhamba, Dr Shabnaiz Hussain and Dr Muhammad Ashraf Memon, expressed these views while addressing a seminar, ‘Safety in blood component therapy’, which was organised in collaboration with Sir Syed College of Medical Science and the Express Media Group at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.



Express Media Group’s Azfar Nizami and staff nurses from different hospitals also attended the seminar.

While addressing the seminar, Dr Iqbal said that awareness regarding blood and its use is very necessary.

Dr Anwar said that blood is an essential part of saving human life and the wrong transfer of blood can result in death, adding that patients cannot eat or drink during a blood transfer.

Blood screening is extremely important to stop the [transfer of] diseases, he emphasised. Meanwhile, Dr Daraz said that junior doctors who work in different trauma centres and emergency wards need to be aware of where and when to use the different products of blood and at what temperature to store blood.

“Our purpose is a thalassemia major free Pakistan,” stated Dr Bhambha, sharing that more than 5,000 children are suffering from thalassemia major while 17% suffer from thalassemia minor.



Thalassemia patients need to be given blood daily, he informed, adding that if both parents of an individual have thalassemia minor, chances of their children contracting thalassemia major are 25% and thalassemia minor 50%.

Commending Express Media Group on its efforts, Dr Hussain said that such seminars play an important role in raising awareness among doctors, the public and staff nurses.

On behalf of the Express Media Group, Nizami thanked all the doctors and presented complementary shields.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2018.