KARACHI: Pakistan’s charity blood banks are bearing the brunt of Pakistan’s weakening currency, amid an increase in the cost of imported blood containers and other blood screening machinery, according to blood suppliers.
The unbreakable, vinyl blood containers which are not manufactured in Pakistan, and the equipment required for safe screening of donor’s blood have to be imported, and with the Pak rupee devalued by over 40 percent in the last two years, free blood services in the country say it is proving difficult to continue their charity provision.
Most blood banks in Pakistan offer services free of cost, with expenses borne by donations from private citizens and philanthropists.
“We are facing extremely difficult circumstances because of the rising cost of the import of blood bags and blood screening machinery,” Fawzia Siddiqui, chairperson of a welfare foundation that meets the blood requirements of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH), told Arab News on Friday.
The rupee depreciation, from Rs. 110 per USD to Rs. 154.85 by the end of 2019, has increased the costs of all imported raw materials across the board, including essential commodities and medicinal products.
“Since last year, the price of [a full] blood bag has increased from Rs. 1, 800 to Rs. 2, 200, which includes the screening of blood,” Siddiqui said. The difference comes from the higher price of the vinyl bags and screening equipment.
Iqbal Kasmani, head of a blood bank and Thalassemia center that offers free blood and blood components to the poor, said the prices of blood bags and medicines had gone up by between 30 to 40 percent in the last two years.
Kasmani’s blood bank offers services to approximately 400 registered children suffering from Thalassemia-- an inherited blood disorder.
At the NICH, there are 4,000 registered children with Thalassemia who regularly need blood transfusions. That blood is supplied free of cost to the poor, alongside other services including the provision of medicines for tuberculosis and cancer.
“We receive donations mostly in the holy month of Ramadan that are consumed throughout the year. 80 percent of our donors are ladies,” Siddiqui said.
Siddiqui, who wants to replace existing blood screening equipment with more modern machinery, says currently, it is difficult to manage even current operations due to the high cost of inputs.
“We need Rs. 6 million to replace the equipment, but high costs are making it difficult,” she said.
Additionally, imports of medicinal products have declined by more than 10 percent during the first 6 months of the current fiscal year to $515 million, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
“Some of the machines used in the hospitals have become 50 percent costlier as compared to last year,” Abdul Samad Memon, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Chemist and Druggists Association, told Arab News and added that the prices of most medicines had surged to over 23 percent.
Rising costs bleeding Pakistan’s charity blood banks dry, say suppliers
https://arab.news/9qyuf
Rising costs bleeding Pakistan’s charity blood banks dry, say suppliers
- Say vinyl blood containers and other machinery not made in Pakistan is making free-of-cost service difficult to sustain
- Most blood banks in Pakistan offer free services covered by donations from philanthropists
Pakistan PM leaves for Saudi Arabia on brief visit as Middle East crisis rages on
- The visit comes at a time of increased volatility in the region, following US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks
- Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed will discuss the ongoing tensions, regional security and bilateral relations, Sharif’s office says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday departed for Saudi Arabia on a brief, hours-long visit, his office said, amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The visit comes at a time of increased volatility in the region, following Unites States-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks on US bases in several Gulf countries as well as commercial and oil infrastructure, raising the spectre of a wider war.
Sharif, expected to discuss regional security and diplomatic coordination with Saudi leaders, is visiting the Kingdom on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the prime minister’s office.
“Sharif will meet His Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” the former’s office said.
“The meeting between the two leaders will discuss the ongoing tensions in the region, the regional security situation and the bilateral relations between the two countries.”
The development came a day after Bloomberg, citing comments from Sharif’s spokesperson, reported that Pakistan is ready to support Saudi Arabia “no matter what” as tensions escalate across the Middle East following Iranian strikes on Gulf states.
Mosharraf Zaidi told Bloomberg TV Islamabad would come to Riyadh’s aid whenever required, emphasizing the longstanding security partnership between the two countries, which was further strengthened by a mutual defense pact signed in September last year.
There was “no question we might, we will” come to Saudi Arabia’s aid “no matter what and no matter when,” Zaidi said.
“Both countries, even before the defense agreement, have always operated on the principle of being there for the other,” he added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have historically maintained close military and strategic ties, and the new agreement elevated their security cooperation at a time of heightened regional instability.
Zaidi said Pakistan was also working diplomatically to prevent the conflict from expanding further across the region.
