A state of the art blood transfusion service established in the
capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with German assistance is looking for
support from the government as well as the civil society for successful and
sustained operations.
Housed in a magnificent and purpose-built building on the premises of
Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), the AJK Central Blood Transfusion
Service (BTS), documented by the German organisations as Regional Blood Centre
(RBC) Muzaffarabad – has been mandated to collect blood donations for its use
in blood transfusion after proper screening against the transfusion
transmissible infections (TTIs).
“Human blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from
generous blood donors. In a calamity prone region, hospitals are always in need
of blood and we have to cater to their needs in our designated area,” said Dr
Irum Gilani, RBC’s deputy director and the driving force behind the project.
She said blood donation was a service to humanity and a charity of
its own kind due on all healthy members of the society.
According to her, the RBC Muzaffarabad was part of a nation-wide
project, envisaging establishment of 10 such centres across the country with
assistance from the Federal Republic of Germany through German Financial
Cooperation (KfW) and German Technical Cooperation (GIZ).
Of them, the RBC Muzaffarabad was the first one to have
been operationalised, mainly because its staff was already in place from
an earlier project launched in 2003.
AJK, she recalled, had done legislation for safe blood transfusion
for the first time in 2003, making blood screening against 5 TTIs - Hepatitis B
and C, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), syphilis, and malaria - mandatory.
“In our centre, blood donation is in safe hands as every unit
of donated blood goes through a series of steps and tests,” Dr Gilani said.
She said that the prospective donors were accepted only if they
appeared to be in good health and complied with centre’s donor selection
criteria.
Stating that the lower and upper age limit for blood donation
was 18 and 65 years, respectively, she dispelled impression that blood donation
caused irreparable weakness.
“In fact, the human body replaces donated volume within 24 to 48
hours whereas red blood cells are replenished within 10 to 12 weeks,” she said,
adding, blood donors were always able to perform their routine daily activities
on that very day.
“All they need is to drink well after donation, refrain from smoking
for at least one hour, avoid strenuous physical activity and heavy lifting for
the remainder of the day, and drink extra fluids for the next 24 hours.”
She said since her centre possessed latest equipment and trained
staff for preparation of the RCC (red cell concentrate), FFP (fresh frozen
plasma) and platelets, it had obviated the need of rushing to the bigger cities
in despair for this purpose.
“With this facility, three patients can benefit from a single blood
donation, because people receiving blood generally need a specific component,
rather than whole blood,” she said.
Dr Gilani said though the RBC Muzaffarabad had taken lead in many
aspects, service charges at this facility were however still to be fixed.
She said the construction of RBC building, procurement of equipment
and technical support were all donor–related activities, and what the AJK
government was required to do was to evolve effective strategies for the
centre’s sustainability.
Funds allocated for blood safety consumables in the health department
revenue budget were a paltry Rs 500,000 for one year, while heads for utility
bills and generator’s POL were yet to be created, she said.
She said though AJK Central BTS had been established as a separate
entity, in compliance with the 2003 act, service structure and hierarchy was
still non-existent.
“We need additional technical and
administrative manpower to meet the broadened scope of our centre,” she said.
Tariq Naqash
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