BADIN, June 20: US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C. Crocker inaugurated a thalassaemia care centre here on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Crocker said the main objectives of the programme were to help the local government to mobilize corporate, private and its own resources to complement the resources provided by the USAID, deliver services needed at the local level and strengthen the local governments’ capacity to plan and implement development projects.

He said the USAID was pleased to have supported the establishment of the thalassaemia centre in Badin.

The centre, the third of its kind in Sindh, was established under the USAID District Grants Programme.

The centre has 16 beds and has the capacity to treat 200 patients per year free of cost. The centre, equipped with advaced blood screening and testing equipment, also has a blood bank and a computer link with the Hussaini Blood Bank in Karachi.

The thalassaemia centre will have four doctors and it will cater to the needs of patients from Tharparkar, Thatta, Hyderabad and other areas.

The USAID will have the support of the Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN) in a partnership called the District Grants Programme.

The initiative has helped the district government to undertake projects worth Rs81 million, including a USAID contribution of Rs51 million, Rs12 million from the district government and Rs11 million from the private sector and communities.

Through the District Grants Programme, the USAID awards financial grant of up to US$ 50,000 for project proposals that have gone through a competitive process. Each funded project has people-government partnership meeting some of the basic needs at the grassroots level.

Mr Crocker said that through out Pakistan, 65,000 people suffered from thalassaemia, over 20,000 of them in Sindh, including 350 in the Badin district.

On this occasion, District Nazim Kamal Khan Chang praised the contribution of the USAID, saying this highlighted the partnership between the USAID and the district government.

Earlier, briefing the US ambassador, DCO Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah said Badin was a peaceful district and a suitable place for establishment of industries which could reduce poverty in the district.

Thalassaemia centre secretary Dr Mohammad Haroon Memon welcomed the ambassador.

The event was attended by USAID officials, councillors and representatives of the Hussaini Blood Bank, British Petroleum Pakistan and the RSPN.

The US ambassador arrived by a British oil company plane which landed at the Khaskheli oil fields. He was accompanied by the staff of the US consulate.