MINSK, 18 April (BelTA) - Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova visited the City Center of Transfusion Medicine based on the 6th City Clinical Hospital in Minsk on 18 April, BelTA has learned.
“We are actively working on import substitution programs. There are issues however that need to be solved. The aim of my visit to the City Center of Transfusion Medicine, which supplies blood products to healthcare institutions of Minsk, is to see whether all components, which are made of blood and which help save hundreds of thousands of our citizens and perform various transplant surgeries, are available to our people. With these thoughts in mind we have scheduled a meeting here today. After all, blood is like medicine, it saves lives. Blood has become even more in demand, as the number of high-tech operations has increased. Therefore, we need to produce all the components that are in demand in healthcare,” said Natalya Kochanova.
The speaker stressed that Belarus has achieved a lot in this sector. “There is the Scientific and Practical Center for Transfusiology, the city center, enterprises in different regions of the country, which are engaged in blood processing. We still have however things which have to be imported. The country spends some $9 million a year for such imports. We need to produce these things ourselves,” said the chairwoman of the Council of the Republic. “Fortunately, there are a lot of good people who help those in need. Some 100 to 200 people donate blood in this center on a daily basis. The center also provides services to all pregnant women of Minsk, and performs medical procedures as well. This is a unique center. We need to look forward and see the prospects.”
"We need to have everything so that our doctors can save the lives of our people and provide necessary medical care,” Natalya Kochanova said.
The City Center of Transfusion Medicine was set up on the basis of the 6th City Clinical Hospital in May 2010. The center collects donor blood, processes it into components and runs laboratory quality control; stores finished products and provide them to Belarusian hospitals; develops optimal schemes of infusion and transfusion therapy using erythrocyte, plasma, platelet components and blood plasma drugs; implements modern transfusion technologies; conducts research, innovation, organizational and training activities.
After the City Center of Transfusion Medicine was opened, new medical equipment was purchased to obtain blood components that meet international quality standards. A cryobank was set up to store cells of rare blood groups.
The CIS only X-ray equipment for irradiation of blood components has been installed in Minsk. The technology reduces the risk of complications during transfusion of blood products to fetuses, newborns, pregnant women, patients after organ and tissue transplants, cancer patients after chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Equipment was also purchased for donor blood separation, automatic blood processing and shock freezing of plasma. On average, the center daily collects 22.5 liters of whole blood, 42 liters of donor plasma and 50 doses of platelet components.
The City Center for Transfusion Medicine is an advanced school of expertise in clinical transfusiology. It employs thre candidates of medical sciences, 18 doctors with the highest and first qualification categories, who participate in scientific research and publish the results in scientific publications. Every year the center hosts training seminars and science-to-practice conferences with international participation.
