Staff Reporter
Pakistan Red Crescent Society Chairman Abrar ul Haq has appealed to people to donate blood to help save lives amid serious shortage of blood due to ongoing Covid-19.
In a statement issued to media, the PRCS chairman said pandemic affected millions of people worldwide and caused disruptions at the global level including in healthcare provision.
He said thousands of people have lost lives to Covid-19 across country, however even more lives are at risk due to blood shortage, especially those suffering from leukemia, thalassemia, hemophilia, anemia or those undergoing critical surgeries or injured in road accidents.
Abrar ul Haq said the PRCS Regional Blood Donor Centre housed at the National Headquarters in Islamabad would usually collect 500-1000 donations in any given month, which have now fallen to around few dozen units only.
He said around 90% of PRCS blood supply has been threatened by cancelation of community blood drives due to Covid-19 pandemic.
He said educational institutions and industrial units have been the major source of blood collection and their closure in days of pandemic severely impacted the blood donations.
He said majority of blood donors fear that they might contract coronavirus during the blood transfusion process, calling for a serious intervention through a robust awareness campaign to ward off people’s concerns. “
The COVID virus cannot be transmitted through the blood donation process or blood transfusion as respiratory viruses are not transmitted by donation or transfusion”, he added.
