Hospital aims to move Pakistan towards 100 per cent voluntary donation. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: NED University of Engineering and Technology became the latest venue for the Indus Hospital blood drive on Tuesday as it makes its rounds in the city.
“Our mission is to mobilise the nation towards 100 per cent voluntary blood donation,” claimed Dr Uzma Ata, the Indus Hospital Blood Centre (IHBC) administrator and a consultant clinical pathologist, at the blood donation camp organised at NED University on Tuesday. “In this manner, the prevailing barter system to avail blood will be put to an end in order to save the millions of lives through the acts of voluntary donors - the backbone of the project.”
Dr Ata believed that the project will bring a paradigm shift in the way we think and strive to arrange blood for our patients in times of emergency - when families experience helplessness when their loved ones require blood in dire situations.
Following the centralised blood centre’s inception in October last year, the IHBC has set up blood donation camps at the offices of trade bodies and enterprises. It now plans to reach out to the institutes of higher education with an aim to encourage the youth of the nation to become an active part of this project, she shared with The Express Tribune.
Being the first public-sector institution in line of partnership, the NED University had transformed a portion of its old administration block into a blood donation camp for the day. Students from various faculties lined up to donate their blood from 10am to 4pm.
“What is better than this feeling that I am contributing to a revolutionary endeavour and my blood will be utilised for a great cause,” said Ali Mohiuddin Khan, a student of electronic engineering, as he lied down on a donation chair. By agreeing to become a voluntary donor, Khan also appeared contended on a pledge to receive six medical reports based on his serologic analysis. Like many other students, he did not even know his blood group.
Dr Ata explained that blood is obtained solely from ‘voluntary blood donors’. An online blood ordering system is also available for partner hospitals where they can make requests for the required quantity of blood.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2014.
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