Govt launches helpline for blood, plasma donations as COVID-19 cases see record jumps

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A health official wearing protective gear takes blood sample of a man at a drive-through screening and testing facility for the COVID-19 coronavirus, alongside a street in Islamabad on June 10, 2020. — AFP

In a bid to facilitate patients, the government has launched a helpline to ensure the availability of blood as well as COVID-19 plasma, as regular blood drives across the country are on hold due to the worsening coronavirus situation.

"The patients with compromised immunity now bear the brunt of the deficit in blood donations as the pandemic sweeps across the country," Arab News reported on Sunday.

“We have set up a helpline for the donors, especially for COVID-19 survivors, to facilitate them in blood donation,” said Saqib Mumtaz, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

June 14 marks World Blood Donor Day, observed every year to spread awareness on the need for safe blood donations, and to thank donors for their life-assuring gift.

However, countries around the globe this year have reported a drastic drop in blood drives as governments and health experts fear chances of infection.

Also read: Health experts call for two-week strict lockdown to curb COVID-19 spread

Pakistan's challenge

Pakistan’s unregulated blood banks cater to hundreds of thousands of people who require regular blood transfusions in the country — ranging from patients suffering from thalassemia to those suffering from kidney related ailments and hepatitis.

Moreover, voluntary blood donations in Pakistan fulfill only 50% of the country’s total requirement, according to Dr Saqib Ansari, a hematologist at Children’s Hospital Karachi.

With 100,000 patients suffering from thalassemia and 5,000 babies born with the disease every year, he added that Pakistan needs at least three million blood bags every year just to meet its total transfusion and emergency needs.

Dr Ansari said the real challenge is to get our hands on safe blood and its proper transfusion to patients.

Raising concerns that the huge percentages of patients were liable to contract Hepatitis B or C due to the failure of proper blood screening, he said that these concerns were just as important for coronavirus patients seeking blood plasma therapy.

He added: “The best available testing and screening of the plasma must be ensured before transfusing it to COVID-19 patients to prevent other infections, and gauge the treatment’s efficacy."