Blood donors gave an overwhelming response to a blood donation camp held at TNG School, Ain Khalid campus, showing their spirit and love for humanity.
Considering blood donation as one of the foremost social responsibilities, several Pakistani forums joined hands with Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Blood Donor Centre to organise a blood donation camp ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Pakistan Engineers Forum (PEF), Pakistan Welfare Forum (PWF), Pakistan Business Forum Doha (PBDF) and Qatar Sindhi Forum (Q-Sindhis) were among the leading participating forums.
Throughout the day, a large number of community members turned up to donate blood. Later in the evening, a ceremony was held to appreciate the blood donors. The master of the ceremony, Fahad Ismail, began the programme with recitation from the Holy Quran by Engineer Asfandiar Ansari. National Anthems of Pakistan and Qatar were played.
Dr Ayesha Al Malki, Executive Director of HMC Blood Transfusion Services, and Waheedullah Wazir, Community Welfare Attaché at the Pakistan Embassy, were the guests of honour on the occasion.
A number of community leaders and civil society members were also present.
Dr Khalil Ullah Shibli, HMC Director Anesthesia Residency Training (ACGMEI) Programme, introduced Dr Ayesha to the guests and highlighted the importance of blood donation. He called upon his compatriots to get involved in HMC activities. During a recent ACGMEI training executives’ visit from the USA, the officials described HMC simulation training centre facilities as one of the best in world, noted Dr Shibli.
Speaking on the occasion, Waheedullah Wazir, Community Welfare Attaché at the Pakistan Embassy, said: “Blood donation is a great noble cause. We always encourage our community members to participate in positive, healthy and social activities.
“We are extremely grateful that Qatar always gives special importance to Pakistanis. The FIFA World Cup is not only for Qataris but for Pakistanis as well. We will play our part in making this event a big success, which will always be remembered in the world history.
“The 200,000-strong Pakistani community is at the disposal of the Qatari brothers to make the mega event a great success. Every Pakistani will be available for any service required by our Qatari brothers.”
On her part, Dr Ayesha thanked the organisers for inviting her to the event and commended the humanitarian drive being carried out by the Pakistani community in an organised manner. “I am extremely happy to see a number of Pakistani organisations participating in the event. It’s truly impressive and highly commendable to see the efforts you are making to ensure that blood stocks are available whenever and wherever needed.
“My deepest gratitude to every donor who spared time to be part of this noble drive. We consider human beings to be good storage of blood. We can store blood in the refrigerator for 42 hours, whereas we can store blood in the human body forever.
“Blood is life, and scientists, despite their concerted efforts during the past seven-eight decades, have not been able to develop artificial blood because they cannot produce humans.”
Dr Ayesha also noted that, unlike other countries where private hospitals can collect and test blood, only HMC in Qatar has been given the responsibility to ensure quality control.
“On behalf of HMC and other related departments, I would like to thank you for your generosity. We hope you will continue this kind deed in future as well,” added Dr Ayesha.
Talking to Qatar Tribune, Riyaz Ahmed Bakali thanked the HMC team members and volunteers for making the drive a great success. “We would like to thank all the blood donors who came from all over Qatar. Besides the Pakistani community, people from other countries also responded to the campaign, which shows the communities’ attitude and standing towards social responsibility.”
He added: “Blood is the gift of life and one of the most precious gifts anyone can give to another person. The humanitarian drive was held as part of our support to the residents of Qatar and to give a message that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with our Qatari brothers on all occasions.”
Focus Medical Centre had set up a free medical pavilion for the community where they checked the vital signs, glucose and blood pressure levels of donors and also rendered medical advice.
Appreciation certificates were presented to all blood donors, courtesy of Pak-Qatar Takaful. Al Khayarin Group presented refreshments to the donors. Member of Pakistan Welfare Forum Mohammad Idrees Anwar also attended the event.
The volunteers included Qaiser Anwar, Khalid Sajjad Bhatti, Mohd Ajmal Chaudhary, Hamid Rasul, Asim Khattak, Ashraf Siddiqui, Shabbar Ali, Ikram Butt, Zaman Ajmal, Junaid Mahar, Atiqur Rasheed, Mohd P Akhtar, Mohd Ali, Naveed Tahirkheli, Junaid Sarwar, Rizwan Ajmal, Ibrahim Zada, Shahida Khan and Uzma Ansari.
Ahsan Iqbal proposed the vote of thanks and thanked all donors, supporters, community leaders, civil society members, and guests of honour.
The ceremony concluded with a beautiful recitation of the famous poem ‘Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua’ penned by Pakistan’s national poet Muhammad Iqbal and sung by famous singer Jamshed Shahzad Bajwa.
Qaiser Anwar, an active community leader, arranged a guided tour for the guests of honour where they appreciated each and every team member for their positive contribution to the success of the blood donation camp.
