Special Forces to donate convalescent plasma

Sindh Police’s SSU to sign agreement with NIBD to offer lifesaving therapy to patients

KARACHI: In the 100 days of the country’s battle with a global pandemic, Pakistan’s national tally for the novel coronavirus has surpassed China-the first known epicentre of the disease-with over 85,000 cases and counting, reported the health ministry on Thursday.

In these circumstances, with no evident cure in sight and healthcare systems on the brink of exhaustion, passive immunisation of patients through convalescent plasma seems to be the country’s best bet at dealing with Covid-19 at the moment.

Earlier records reveal that doctors have been using plasma therapy for centuries now. This supplementary treatment has also been used in the past to help treat patients before vaccines were developed for epidemics like measles, Ebola, SARS, MERS and the 1918 flu pandemic.

Still, given the lack of information and awareness about the experimental treatment, sourcing blood plasma from recovered patients has been a tough row to hoe for many faced with the disease.

“When I needed O-positive plasma for a relative clinging to his life in an intensive care unit, I did not know what to do or where to look for. It’s quite hard to trace a Covid-19 patient considering the stigma around the disease but luckily some people online helped when I posted on a Facebook group,” said Raza, a resident of Karachi.

However, seeing the people’s struggle in these times of uncertainty, an organisation as unusual as a specialised counterterrorism force has joined hands with a tertiary care institute in Karachi to save lives by providing access to convalescent plasma.

The Karachi-based Special Security Unit (SSU) of the Sindh police has partnered with the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) to start donating plasma to be used for treating Covid-19 positive patients.

The decision, which was taken in a meeting between Karachi AIG Ghulam Nabi Memon and NIBD chief Dr Tahir Shamsi on Thursday, is due to take the form of a signed agreement between the two organisations today.

Where the coalition may appear strange to many given the lack of relation between the two departments, it appears to be an act of neighbourly cooperation, considering the two offices are also headquartered across the street from each other.

According to Memon, plasma donor police officers will be issued a certificate of appreciation along with Rs10,000 to reward their efforts towards the initiative.

“The SSU has set a new example of serving the people with their blood and the youth has already started offering their plasma voluntarily,” he at a meeting with Dr Shamsi.

Meanwhile, Dr Shamsi said the coalition between the two organisations was the first of its kind in Pakistan, adding that the SSU was the first organisation to offer its services for practical participation in Patient Care Encounter (PCE) Immunisation.

Operations DIG Maqsood Memon had met Dr Shamsi and Dr Farhan Issa at SSU headquarters on Wednesday, to discuss ways to utilise plasma from recovered personnel.

During the meeting, some 20 SSU commandos pledged to donate their plasmas, setting the ball rolling for the programme.

“There is an 80 per cent chance of recovery using convalescent plasma therapy and so far, the 120 patients who have been administered plasma from recovered cases have yielded positive results,” claimed Dr Shamsi. “With this programme, we will initially start with the plasma resources from eight SSU commandos and then take turns acquiring plasma from all recovering personnel who wish to donate.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2020.