Sri Lankan blood donors contribute immensely to saving lives and to the success of many transplants taking place in the country, said Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Minister Rajitha Senaratne.
He was speaking at the World Blood Donor Day - 2018 celebration, held at Nelum Pokuna, on Thursday.
Minister Senaratne said their donations have been supportive to the achievements made by the health sector after the good governance government came to power.
He said during this period, under his guidance as the Health Minister, two blood banks were set up in each district to cater to the people who face accidents, which are increasing at a high rate. He added that during this period, the number of hospitals with an Accident Service was increased to 24 - one for each district. He added that earlier, there was one accident service in the country. The minister added that only eye and kidney transplants were conducted in government hospitals before this government came to power. He said even kidney transplants were minimal but now, more than 485 kidney transplants are being conducted in hospitals. Around 35 liver transplants are conducted in the country.
"Meanwhile, we commenced pancreas transplant in the country and we have been successful in dual transplants of liver and pancreas," Minister Senaratne said. "We have been successful in lung transplant, heart transplant and limbs transplants as well. There have been only five leg transplants in the world and four out of the five patients died. The only one who survived is the Sri Lankan."
The minister said bone marrow transplant is being conducted successfully which is a solace to Thalassaemia patients. He added that an eight storey building is being constructed in the Colombo National Hospital premises to treat Thalassaemia patients, with facilities to conduct bone marrow transplants. He added that construction work would be completed by October and treatment would commence by January next year.
He also said that nearly 600,000 have been registered to donate blood in Sri Lanka and nearly 450,000 donate blood annually.
"This is the highest rate in the world compared to the population in those countries," Minister Senaratne said. "This is because Sri Lankans tend to donate due to the influence of Buddhism."
"Even until this government came to power, the plasma of the blood was discarded as clinical waste," Minister Senaratne said. "After I was appointed the Health Minister, I exported plasma to India for drug production and now we have found a US investor. We hope to produce 85 percent of drugs required by the country and hence we would be able to save around USD 250 million each year."
National Blood Transfusion Service Director Dr Rukshan Bellana also spoke on the occasion.
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