KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday directed the provincial secretary of health to make efforts to arrange testing kits of coronavirus (Covid-19) and personal protective equipment (PPE) for registered blood banks as a precautionary measure.

A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar asked all registered blood banks of the province to approach the provincial health department in this regard.

The bench issued these directives on a petition about reported shortage of blood for patients of thalassaemia and haemophilia due to the ongoing lockdown in the province.

A representative of the home department informed the bench that there was no restriction on registered blood banks to operate during lockdown since the activities related to health services like hospitals, laboratories, blood banks and medical centres were deemed to be essential services, which were exempted.

No lockdown restriction on registered blood banks, hospitals, laboratories, medical centres, court told

The health department submitted that it was also making all-out efforts to address the difficulties of thalassaemia patients and instructions in this regard had already been issued to all concerned throughout the province.

When the petition came up for hearing on Friday, focal person of the home department Ibrar Ahmed further submitted that the department had no objection if precautionary measures were adopted by the blood banks while collecting blood from donors at suitable places while adhering to social distancing and other precautions against the spread of Covid-19 as the entire country was in extreme emergency.

He said that on April 1, the home department had communicated a clarification to the provincial police officer, all additional IGs and commissioners across the province that all activities related to health services like hospitals, laboratories, blood banks and medical centres were deemed to be essential services.

Mohammad Iqbal of the Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Centre and Asad Ali of the Hussaini Blood Bank informed the bench that they were already operating, but raised some issues that sometime their employees were being stopped from attending office.

The additional advocate general Jawad Dero submitted that he would communicate to the home department that the employees of registered blood banks may not be stopped on showing their identity cards and assured the bench that no employee of such blood banks will be stopped during lockdown from attending duty after showing CNICs and employment cards.

At this juncture, petitioner advocate Tariq Mansoor also raised another issue that Covid-19 testing kits and PPE had not been provided to blood banks, adding that if blood was collected without such testing, this would be a great danger to thalassaemia patients.

Director of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority Dr Durenaz Jamal said that this pandemic came recently, but their old tradition or standard operating procedure was to be followed by blood banks and in case any fever or flu or any significant health complication was found in any donor, the blood banks were not allowed to draw blood from such donors. The representatives of blood banks present in court also confirmed this position.

She further submitted that all registered blood banks had also been advised to verify history of donors first, including symptoms of Covid-19, travel history and contact with patient of Covid-19 before taking blood.

The petitioner said that some directives be issued to the home department to provide testing kits of Covid-19 and PPE to registered blood banks.

However, chief technical officer of the health department Dr Sikandar Memon and the deputy director of the provincial disaster management authority Altaf Qureshi jointly contended that at present they had already established 20 centres for Covid-19 tests and did not have enough facility or provision to provide such kits and equipment to blood banks.

However, while disposing of the petition, the bench directed the secretary of health to examine this aspect, make some efforts to arrange further Covid-19 testing kits and PPE for registered blood banks as precautionary measure and asked all such facilities that they may contact health department in this regard.

Earlier, the petitioner had contended that availability and supply of blood to thousands of children and ageing patients suffering from thalassaemia and haemophilia had been affected not only in the metropolis but also in other parts of the province during the lockdown period imposed by the provincial government.

While impleading the provincial chief secretary, home and health secretaries and the director general of the PDMA as respondents, he had sought immediate directions for them to take urgent steps and grant exemption from lockdown/restrictions to the major registered and certified blood banks of the province.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2020