50% of blood transfusions go unscreened

KARACHI: Only 50 per cent of the 1.5 million units of blood transfused every year in Pakistan are screened, participants at a workshop were informed on Saturday.

‘Blood transfusion services in Pakistan’, was organised by the Dow Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine, a constituent institution of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), in collaboration with the National Blood Transfusion Programme (NBTP) and with the technical sssistance of GTZ Health Programme, Pakistan.

According to Dr Hasan Abbas Zaheer, NBTP programme manager, Pakistan has a fragmented blood transfusion system.

In developing countries, up to 150,000 pregnancy-related deaths can be avoided through safe blood transfusions. However, Pakistan has a poor record of safe blood transfusions. Unsafe transfusions are a major but frequently neglected factor in the global spread of HIV and Hepatitis B and C, added Dr Zaheer.

World Health Organisation guidelines state that safe blood transfusion is a universal human right and providing blood and blood components is the responsibility of the national health care system.

The main reason for poor regulation of blood in Pakistan is the country’s fragmented transfusion system. International guidelines recommend a consolidated national blood transfusion service, the doctor said.

Another panelist, Professor Dr Masood Hameed Khan, announced that DUHS will soon launch a Masters of Science (MSc) in Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Medicine, through which he hopes the university will be able to provide a broad knowledge of transfusion, blood banking and tissue (bone marrow) transplantation medicine. The MSc is a three-year programme and is aligned with the health service requirements for career progression for pathologists and other healthcare professionals working in the field of blood banking and tissue transplantation.

Panelists at the workshop suggested that blood transfusion services at the provincial and federal level should be managed in collaboration with the DUHS.  The university can help in better management, monitoring, evaluation and training activities.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Zainab Sanghi from NBTP, Paul from GTZ Health Programme and Dr Saleem Ilyas from DUHS.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.