Ongoing crackdown on illegal blood banks to continue: Dahar

MN Report

Karachi: As many 26 illegal blood banks were sealed in 2015 while another crackdown on illegal blood banks was currently under way as the provision of safe and hygienic blood is the responsibility of the government, Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said here.

Chairing a meeting of health officials at his office, he directed district health officer and director health (Karachi) to coordinate with Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) for taking strict action against illegal blood banks as provision of unsafe blood was not only a crime but an inhuman act, as well.

Secretary Health Dr Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo and Secretary SBTA Dr Zahid Ansari attended the meeting.

The minister urged SBTA secretary to make the criteria of blood banks’ registration more strict and transparent as it was the matter of human lives.

Moreover, credentials of pathologists and other staff associated with blood banks must be verified, he added.

Earlier, Dr Ansari informed the minister that of the total 157registered blood banks functioning in Sindh, 85 are in Karachi and remaining 72 in other districts of the province.

He said that registration fee of a blood bank has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs30,000, while the fee for the renewal of blood bank’s registration has been fixed at Rs10,000.