Govt to implement National Blood Policy soon

COLOMBO: "The Government has recognised the importance of blood safety as a priority need and will take steps to implement the National Blood Policy soon, said Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

The Minister in a message on the occasion of 5th Annual Conference of South Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine said, Sri Lanka has scene a rapid growth in this field.

Even with the constraints of a developing economy, sufficient funds are allocated for the improvement of the National Blood Transfusion Service, the message said.

Transfusion medicine will continue to be a little like walking through a tropical rainforest where the known paths are clear but still require careful navigation.

Just as the rainforest contains a huge biodiversity to keep the most jaded traveller interested, so the field of transfusion Medicine can never be anything other than a fascinating and rewarding area in which to work, a document issued at the symposium stated quoting Ian M. Franklin and Michael F. Murphy.

The statement added that there has been enormous progress in transfusion medicine, which has developed into a special area of its own in the last decade.

It now encompasses many important areas of medicine including haematology, immunology transplantation science, microbiology, epidemiology, clinical practice, research and development.

Health Ministry secretary Ranjith Maligaspe said the Japanese Government funded Blood Bank Development Project, a new building and equipment to the Blood Bank Centre.

The Blood Bank is also engaged in human resource development programme to achieve the better service to the patients, he said. The symposium was hosted by the National Blood Transfusion Srrvice.