Dr. Tariq Fazal Choudhury, Minister of State, Capital Administration & Development Division, held a meeting today with the visiting German Health Mission led by Ms. Andrea Godon, Principle Manager, KFW Bank. The Mission is visiting Pakistan for the appraisal of its health projects including the Safe Blood Transfusion Project (SBTP). Prof. Hasan Abbas Zaheer, Project Director, SBTP was also present in the meeting.
The Minister appreciated the German government support for establishing the network of Regional Blood Centers and Hospital Blood Banks all over Pakistan in addition to the technical assistance for managing the new system. He said that the present Government is committed to improve blood safety standards and the development of a modern Blood Center in Islamabad through the German support. He assured the German delegation that CA&D Division will coordinate closely with M/o National Health Services to ensure timely implementation of the Phase II of the project throughout the country.
Ms. Andrea Gordon appreciated the Minister for taking genuine interest in the Blood Project and informed that in Phase II the implementation would be smoother as valuable experience has been gained in Phase I and many systems and procedures already developed. She praised the government’s commitment to the project and the cause of blood safety and welcomed the Minister’s offer to coordinate closely with the National Health Ministry as both the organizations have a key role in the Project. She also stated that the Pakistan Blood Program is widely acknowledged by the international community as a successful program as well as the German government and the exciting developments in the sector in Pakistan are keenly followed.
The Safe Blood Transfusion Project was established at the federal and provincial levels with a total cost of Rs. 2.5 billion including a foreign funding of Euro 17 million provided by the German Government through a GIZ Technical Cooperation component and a KfW Financial Cooperation component in Phase I. Based on the impressive project implementation, despite administrative challenges the German government committed to finance the SBTP Phase II also with and additional grant of Euro 10 Million.
In the Phase I of the project, ten modern Regional Blood Centers were constructed and equipped with latest blood transfusion technologies. Sixty existing Hospital Based Blood Banks were upgraded and renovated under the project.
Earlier Prof. H.A Zaheer, Project Director, briefed the meeting participants about the project progress and the plans for the Phase II including the development of the Islamabad Blood Center which would cater to the entire blood transfusion needs of Islamabad by providing quality assured blood components to all the hospitals in the city. He added that for blood donations, the Center would be dependent on successfully sensitizing and mobilizing voluntary blood donors as the project envisages the elimination of current reliance of the system on the patients to provide blood donors for their transfusion.
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