MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) – Chair of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova has visited the National Research Center for Transfusion Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, BelTA has learned.
“The goal of my visit to the national research center, just like the goal of my visit to the Minsk Center for Transfusion Medicine, is to find out how things are with blood-derived medicines. This is a very important matter, as these medicines are vital for the healthcare system and our people. Having visited the Minsk Center for Transfusion Medicine, we agreed to meet here next time. In fact, we used to import some medicines, but today we can produce them completely on our own, we have everything for this. Today we will discuss this issue with the director of the National Research Center for Transfusion Medicine and Medical Biotechnology and the healthcare minister in order to decide how we can produce all the blood products that are needed for the healthcare system and our people,” Natalya Kochanova said.
The speaker emphasized that the National Research Center for Transfusion Medicine and Medical Biotechnology is running some very serious research projects. “We have seen that the center is developing sophisticated drugs that should be used in our healthcare system. Moreover, the reagents used to perform laboratory tests are also produced here. After all, every person who comes to donate blood needs to take most serious tests. These reagents do not need to be imported, and we really appreciate that the center strives to produce all the substances it needs by itself,” she said.
The National Research Center for Transfusion Medicine and Medical Biotechnology is the head organization of the National Blood Service of Belarus. It collects, processes, tests and distributes donated blood, manufactures blood-derived medicines, develops and produces biotechnological products using cellular and genetic engineering technologies. The center employs 512 people, of them 43 employees are involved in research, 3 employees are professors and doctors of sciences, and 15 employees are associate professors.
In 2021, the number of donors increased. A total of 17,773 people donated blood and its components, 15,251 people donated blood, 2,522 people donated blood components.
Every year the center prepares more than 44 tonnes of various blood components, processes more than 50 tonnes of plasma for medicines, produces blood products, biomedical cell products.
