Kamran
BLOOD is considered a safest health commodity as it is carefully collected, tested, stored and administered in blood banks. Blood banks are essential parts of healthcare system. However in Pakistan, there are very few blood banks in Pakistan that operate in accordance with international standards and protocols. Patients depending on repeated transfusions, bear consequences of a weak system. A life-saving commodity can become a vehicle for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or other infections. A Major reason behind such condition is not lack of regulations but poor practices in some hospitals, laboratories and blood-collection facilities. The country’s updated National Blood Transfusion and Blood Products Policy for 2025–2030 acknowledges the need for a nationally organized and coordinated transfusion service in the sector. People with Thalassemia and other chronic conditions require regular transfusions. Every transfusion exposes them to the system that collected, screened, stored and released that blood.
Chain of transfusion matters more in this regard. Donors must be properly supervised using sterile equipment. Every donation must undergo mandatory screening under controlled conditions and hospitals must maintain traceability. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends every donated unit be screened before release with mandatory testing for infectious diseases. Pakistan’s own regulatory framework reflects those principles such as The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blood Transfusion Safety Authority Act. Yet the existence of these requirements does not by itself guarantee compliance. A study, Infection control practices in blood banks of Pakistan, published through the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, examining 53 blood banks in Karachi, found the total number of blood banks included in study was 53, of which 35 (66%) were attached to a hospital while 18 (34%) operated independently or as stand-alone blood banks. While surveyed facilities reported screening for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, only 38 of the 53 blood banks performed screening on-site.
For them, a shortage of safe blood creates a difficult choice. When hospitals cannot provide adequate supplies, families may be forced into replacement-donor systems or rely on informal networks to locate compatible blood. Punjab’s Blood Transfusion Authority says donation is still common in Pakistan, even though voluntary, unpaid donors are safer, with lower rates of infection than family or paid donors. But, shortage of voluntary donors has opened the door to paid donation, turning blood into a commodity and weakening its role as a public-health service. Pakistan’s sits within a broader challenge faced by countries where fragmented blood services, inadequate resources and inconsistent oversight can leave vulnerable patients exposed. The issue becomes dangerous when blood banks operate without proper licensing, qualified personnel and adequate equipment. When such requirements are not consistently enforced, regulation becomes largely administrative rather than protective.
Recent events have demonstrated failures in medical infection control. A BBC investigation by the BBC Eye team published in 2026 identified 331 children in Taunsa, Punjab tested positive for HIV between November 2024 and October 2025. The investigation linked the outbreak to unsafe practices at government hospitals such as reuse of disposable syringes. The Taunsa outbreak was not itself established as a blood-transfusion outbreak, but it demonstrated how failures in basic infection-control procedures can allow blood-borne pathogens to spread.
Access to safe blood is also uneven geographically. In June 2025, the Frontier Corps Balochistan established a blood bank in Kohlu after residents had previously travelled to Dera Ghazi Khan for blood-related services. Officials said children with Thalassemia in the area would particularly benefit from the facility. The episode illustrates the basic problem of distance. A blood bank may exist somewhere within a province, but that does not mean a patient in a remote district can access safe blood quickly. Balochistan’s geography, sparse healthcare infrastructure and long travel distances magnify the consequences of shortages. For a child requiring regular transfusion, travelling hundreds of kilometres for blood is not merely inconvenient; it can become a recurring burden on the family.
Pakistan’s dependence on replacement donation means families can find themselves searching for donors at precisely the moment when they are already dealing with a medical emergency. That system places the responsibility of maintaining the blood supply on patients’ relatives rather than on a dependable national network. The most troubling aspect of Pakistan’s blood-safety problem is that the risks are neither unknown nor mysterious. What remains uncertain is how consistently those standards are enforced across thousands of points of care. The danger is also broader than transfusion itself. The HIV outbreak among children in Taunsa demonstrated how unsafe medical practices can expose patients to blood-borne infections even outside the blood-bank system. The country’s latest national blood policy recognizes the need for stronger coordination, while WHO’s 2026 global assessment continues to identify governance and quality assurance as central challenges for blood systems. For Pakistan’s most vulnerable patients, however, the distinction between policy and implementation is not academic. It is measured in every bag of blood they receive.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
