Lahore: Dr Yasmin Rashid, Punjab Health Minister recently pledged to develop the Punjab Institute of Blood Transfusion Services at the Specialized Health and Medical Education Department (SH&ME).
Ajmal Bhatti, Special Secretary, SH&ME Department, Professor Javed Chaudhry and officials of the Punjab Institute of Blood Transfusion Services were also present on this occasion. The Health Minister reviewed the performance of the Institute and measures for improvement.
The Health Minister said, “The Institute of Blood Transfusion Services shall be revamped entirely and developed on modern lines. The idea behind this revamping is to improve the quality of services rendered by the Institute. New staff has been hired at vacant positions for enhanced performance, and they will organize training for new teams very soon. In the next phase, the capacity of regional blood centres shall be scaled up. Regional Centers have been set up at Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur.”
He further said, “All Teaching Hospitals of Punjab have blood separation facilities available. Currently, Blood Banks are operational in 27 District Headquarters Hospitals (DHQs) and 134 Tehsil Headquarter Hospitals (THQs). We are upgrading the blood screening from ICT to CLIA Technology. We need to strengthen coordination between the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department and the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department to boost the capacity of blood banks. The objective of these measures is to ensure a safe blood transfusion system in the province.”