KARACHI, Aug 27: The Sindh government has taken all necessary measures to combat the menace of faulty blood transfusion services by re-strengthening government blood banks from tertiary care to taluka level hospitals across the province.

Sindh health minister Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani stated this on Saturday during a ceremony organized to distribute essential blood bank equipment worth Rs 8.5 million among four teaching hospitals, 10 district and 25 taluka hospitals of Sindh.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the Sindh Services Hospital, he also mentioned that the provincial government has also got approved necessary amendments to the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority by the Sindh assembly, empowering it to take immediate penal action against managers and administrators of unregistered blood banks across the province.

The amended bill, he said, is presently lying with the Sindh Chief Minister and would soon be implemented, in letter and in spirit, enabling the province to get rid of elements playing havoc with public life through business of infected blood.

Qaimkhani maintained that the government was fully conscious of its responsibility and was attempting to take all necessary measures for quality health care and allied services. It expects public to modify their attitude towards public facilities.

“People need to develop a sense of ownership regarding public facilities, including government health care centres and so-forth,” he suggested, adding positive and public friendly changes in the system could only be made through joint efforts on part of government and masses.

Mentioning that meaningful changes in the health department are in the offing, the minister reminded that these are in process of gradual implementation, adding that facility of quality blood banks may also be introduced at rural health centres, in accordance to demands registered there.

Sindh Health Secretary Prof Naushad Ahmed Shaikh speaking on the occasion said that the motive behind streamlining blood banks in public sector institutions was to ensure provision of safe blood in the absence of quality services in the private sector.

Stringent standards required under Sindh Safe Blood Transfusion Act were not being efficiently met by private sector blood banks which was well evident through the ongoing registration exercise in the province, he elaborated.

He said that a two-year project worth Rs 15 million was introduced in 2004 and equipment worth Rs 6.5 million were distributed among four teaching hospitals, eight district hospitals and 16 taluka hospital last year.

He also mentioned that another three-year project worth Rs 14.75 million has been approved under which the next phase of therapy component would be initiated by the end of current year.—APP