BAHAWALPUR: The Regional Blood Centre (RBC) is serving the ailing humanity without any cash transaction across the government health facilities of Bahawalpur division.

This was stated by the RBC head, retired Lt Col Dr Ali Nadeem, while speaking to Dawn.

Dr Nadeem said the centre attached to the Quaid-i-Azam Medical College (QAMC) and the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) was functioning independently but under the administrative control of the Indus Hospital, (IH) Karachi. He said that with the completion of a year’s tenure, the centre had the credit to provide 58,000 blood units without any cash payment to the patients in need of blood in the Government DHQ and THQ hospitals in the division.

He said the beneficiaries included the thalassaemia children admitted to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH).

Dr Nadeem claimed that there was neither cash involvement for blood supplying to the patients nor purchase of blood from professional donors. The patients in need of blood were required to send their own donor for the blood, whose blood was exchanged. He said the RBC had its own air-conditioned arrangements for the safe custody of the blood units collected from donors and the delivery in a protected condition to the doctors of any ward of any health facility.

He claimed that the establishment of this blood centre had wiped off the blood mafia and the patients had been protected from the illegal purchase of substandard blood of the addicts and other such persons.

He said the centre had its own guaranteed arrangements for the collection of donors’ blood and protect it under hygienic methods in its own custody.

Zahid Qadri, the Manager Marketing, told Dawn that for the collection of blood units, his section of the RBC organised camps from time to time in the different areas, educational institutions and other public places.

Besides, the marketing section also arranged different events where the participants were educated on the benefits of the blood donations and for this purpose pubic awareness was created among the general public on different important occasions.

SEMINAR: The Government Sadiq College Women University on Saturday organised an international seminar on “Trends and Challanges in Investment and Technology”.

According to a university’s press release, the seminar was addressed by eminent scholars including Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Afza, Prof Dr Safi Faizullah from Islamic University, Madina (Saudi Arabia), and Dr Waqar Ahmed from Warwick University, UK.

They highlighted the human behaviour in the financial decision-making and discussed efficient capital market assumption.

The VC stressed the need for financial literacy for women’s complete empowerment.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2019