Staff Reporter
Pakistan Red Crescent Society Chairman Abrar ul Haq has appealed to the people to donate blood to help save lives amid shortage of blood due to ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the PRCS chairman said over 16,000 people have lost lives to Covid-19 in the country, however hundreds of thousands more are at risk due to blood shortage.
He said lives of patients suffering from leukemia, thalassemia, hemophilia, anemia or those undergoing critical surgeries or having been injured in road accidents depend on timely and adequate supply of blood.
Abrar ul Haq said the pandemic has brought voluntary blood donations to a virtual standstill, adding that the closure of educational institutions, which have been a major source of blood collection, has also severely impacted the blood donations.
He said the PRCS Regional Blood Donor Centre (RBDC) 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.
“Estimates suggest that only 28 out of 10,000 people donate blood in Pakistan. Out of these, only 11 percent of donations are by people who don’t have a friend or family in immediate need,” he further said, referring to little inclination among people in Pakistan towards voluntarily donating blood.
