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‘Global Consultation on Haemovigilance’ held in Dubai, UAE A ‘Global Consultation on Hemovigilance’ was jointly organized by WHO HQ/Geneva and Sharjah Blood Transfusion and Research Center and the Government of the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with the International Haemovigilance Network and the International Society of Blood Transfusion. The meeting was held on November 20-22, 2012, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The 3‐day meeting was attended by 150 participants from 47 developing and developed countries, including those with established systems and those with plans to start haemovigilance. The main objectives of the Consultation were to highlight the importance of national haemovigilance systems and international networking for global blood safety, assess the nature and magnitude of current challenges and barriers to the implementation of haemovigilance systems, and define strategies for developing haemovigilance systems.

The participants from Pakistan included Dr. H.A Zaheer, Project Director, Safe Blood Transfusion Services Project, Prof. Mafooz-ur-Rehman, Provincial Manager (Punjab), SBTP, Dr. Zahid Ansari, Provincial Manager (Sindh), SBTP. Dr. Zaheer was one of the Official Reporters of the meeting. The global meeting served as a very good opportunity for the Pakistan delegation to share experiences with international colleagues and develop important linkages.

Tender Notice for construction of Regional Blood Centers published

The Department of Health AJK, GB, Punjab and KP have published tender

notice to invite bids for the construction of Regional Blood Centers in their

respective provinces. Pre-bid conference and site visit to RBC Muzaffarabad

was held on 30th November 2012. Tender opening for AJK is on 10th December

2012.

The last edition of our Newsletter focused on

the topic of Hospital Transfusion Committees

(HTC) with contributions from ICT, Punjab, and

Sindh. HTC are still a relatively new structure in

the hospitals of Pakistan, but are expected to

assume a vital function for blood safety and

haemovigilance soon. The development of

Management Information Systems, as reported

in this edition, will be supportive in this respect.

The planned regional blood centers, for which

tenders have just been published, will

incorporate the required IT infrastructure in

their link with Hospital Blood Banks.

The importance of national haemovigilance

systems was highlighted in a ‘Global

Consultation on Haemovigilance’ organized in

November by WHO, the Sharjah BTRC and the

Government of the UAE, in which Pakistan was

represented by several programme managers.

Following the recommendations, Pakistan will

join these efforts and work on implementation

strategies, for example through the

establishment of a network of Hospital

Transfusion Committees.

Other contributions to this edition report on

celebration of World Diabetes Day by Husaini

Haematology & Oncology Trust at its

Thalassaemia Center in Karachi and successful

organization of voluntary blood donation camps

in Karachi and Islamabad, by Muhammadi Blood

Bank and National University of Modern

Languages and as always, there is our interview

with a voluntary blood donor.

Dr. Hasan Abbas Zaheer Project Director

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2nd Meeting of the PIMS Hospital Transfusion Committee held

The second meeting of the Hospital Transfusion Committee (HTC) of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS)

was held under the Chairpersonship of Prof. S. Batool Mazhar, on November 01, 2012. Dr. H. A. Zaheer Secretary

HTC appreciated the commitment of the Committee members to promote safe blood transfusion in PIMS and

presented a brief Summary of the 2nd HTC meeting and the progress on the recommended actions.

The Incharge of PIMS Blood Transfusion Services, Dr. H.A Zaheer provided an update on current issues including

allotment of Land for Regional Blood Center in PIMS, Meeting with Thalassaemia Center staff, Presentation on

Patient Blood Safety, interaction with the new Executive Director, and other miscellaneous issues.

The HTC agreed that the construction of the Regional Blood Center in PIMS is the need of the hour and a dire

requirement of the hospital which needs to be fulfilled at the earliest. The Members expressed satisfaction over the

working of the HTC and committed full support and cooperation to ensure achievement of the aims and objectives

of the HTC. Discussion held to devise a strategy for proper and judicious use of blood components and the need to

reduce unnecessary workload of the Blood Bank especially for cross-matching requests. The issues of shortage of

staff in Blood Bank was also highlighted. A set of recommendations were proposed for action and follow-up.

FC Component International Team Leader completed 6th mission to Pakistan SBTP

Dr. Günter Merk, International Team Leader of the Financial Cooperation Component completed his 6th mission (15th

Oct. - 3rd Nov. 2012) to the Safe Blood Transfusion Project (SBTP). During the Mission, he along with Mr. Zahid

Mahmood, National Manager met with Department of Health Sindh, Punjab, KP, GB and AJK. In the meeting with

DoH Sindh, Dr. Masuma Zaidi, Project Manager, KfW Development Bank and Dr. Asad Ali Baig, Assistant Chief Health,

Planning and Development Division Islamabad also participated. In the meetings, agreements were made to launch

the construction tenders, operationalize provincial PC-1s, signing of separate agreements and procurement of

equipment through a project committee.

Technical Meeting of the MIS Task Force On November 13, 2012, the SBT Project Team organized a technical meeting to critically review the MIS brief and

make strategies for the implementation of the entire system. The meeting was attended by Dr. Hasan Abbas Zaheer

(SBTP), Dr. Haroon Khan (PIMS), Mr. Rizwan Hanif (SKMCH) and Mr. Danish Lakhani (Anhata Solutions). Management

information systems have a great significance in the storage and usage of data; it makes the entire system

transparent and also reduces errors and omissions. The structure of MIS and the different challenges in data

collection, storage and usage were also addressed. Mr. Rizwan Hanif, Project Manager, Shaukat Khanum Memorial

Cancer Hospital, highlighted different technological options for data security and storage in MIS. In order to have a

better understanding of MIS with different stakeholders, it was recommended to add some features to MIS brief,

such as screen charts (visual screen after each table or forms), rules of data entry (to indicate where data change is

possible or who has that access), and a feature of traceability for the authentication and reliability of the data.

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Mission by MIS Expert, Mr. Hynek Kruzik Mr. Hynek Kruzik, a European expert in IT and Management Information Systems, conducted his third Mission to

Pakistan last month. The Mission was conducted with the objective to achieve a consensus with the implementation

partners on a ‘MIS Brief’ to support development of data management and a MIS system for blood transfusion

services. In a meeting with implementing partners, the expert discussed alternative system models (centralized,

decentralized), system and data ownership, hard and software issues, staffing requirements etc.

During the Mission, the expert visited the Directorate of MIS in Punjab and held a meeting with the Director General

Health, Dr. Jaffar Saleem and WHO Technical Coordinator, Dr. SM Mursalin. The expert also had the opportunity to

meet the Director of the National Health Information Resource Centre (NHIRC), Dr. Ali Akbar and his team.

Blood Donation Camp organized by Muhammadi Blood Bank in Karachi Muhammadi Blood Bank (MBB) is a project of

Muhammadi Haematology, Oncology Services

and Welfare Foundation, founded in 2003. This

year, on the occasion of 9th and 10th Moharrum

(24-25 Nov, 2012), the blood bank organized

eleven voluntary blood donation camps in

Karachi. A total of 520 blood units were

collected and screened for Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTIs). These blood units were provided to the Sindh

Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT), Zainabia Thalassaemia Centre and Khairpur Thalassaemia Centre for

transfusion to needy patients without any cost and replacement.

The Express Tribune, November 21, 2012

World Diabetes Day Celebrations in Husaini Thalassaemia Center

World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on November 14, by the International Diabetes Federation and its more

than 200 member associations since 1991. The Day involves participation of millions of people worldwide in diabetes

advocacy and awareness. The theme for the period 2009-2013 is Diabetes Education and Prevention.

Husaini institute of Hematology, Husaini Diagnostics and Husaini Thalassaemia

Center jointly observed the Day with its thalassaemia patients. Dr. Sarfraz Jaffri,

Administrator, Husaini Blood Bank, gave a lecture on ‘Diabetes Mellitus’ and

highlighted its transmission in multi-transfused patients, new advancements in

treatment and standard procedure on injecting insulin. The patients shared their

experiences and thanked the blood bank team for conducting such awareness

programmes. The seminar was followed by a detailed question and answer session.

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INTERVIEW WITH A BLOOD DONOR

Mr. Murtaza Moosa is a regular blood donor with 102 blood donations and one of the key members of the Burhani Blood Donors and Welfare Association whichhas been working for 31 years and was officially registered in 1994. More than 1,000 blood donors are managed as members with a total of 3,000 annual blood donations.

Institution(s) which receive(d) the donations

1. Armed Forces Institute of Transfusion, Rawalpindi. 2. Central Cantonment Hospital 3. Benazir Bhutto Hospital 4. Holy Family Hospital 5. DHQ Hospital, Rawalpindi 6. Hayat Wali Hospital, Rawalpindi 7. Military Hospital, Peshawar 8. Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore 9. AbbasiShaheed Hospital, Karachi

Q. 1 Something about yourself?

I was born in May 28, 1951 in Rawalpindi. I am a businessman by profession. I am a very straighforward person, cannot tolerate wrongs and do what seems to be right.

Q. 2 Your first donation?

In 1969 a cancer patient needed blood and no one was willing to donate; his relatives asked me and I donated blood for the first time in my life.

Q. 3 Comments by friends and family?

My mother always encouraged me as she said “there is nothing other than your blood that can be used to save others’ lives”. M y friends always say about me that if someone needs blood I am the man who will never deny them a donation.

Q.4 In Pakistan, most donors are family replacement donors. Why have you become a voluntary donor?

I cannot bear the pain of others, I cannot see the people begging for blood to save their children’s lives, and I want to be one of those who donate blood to save others’ lives.

Q.5 What would you tell someone who is thinking about donating?

The more you donate the blood, the more needy and poor people will get it without searching and begging their relatives. It will discourage paid and professional donations.