Plasma donation centers receive 4,400 donors since mid-July: Egypt's Health min.

CAIRO - 26 Septemebr 2020: Health Minister Hala Zayed revealed Sunday that the ministry's blood plasma donation centers nationwide had received as many as 4,400 donors since July 14.

In mid-July, the minister announced a national project to establish blood plasma donation centers for medicine production as a part of a presidential initiative to achieve self-sufficiency in plasma derivatives.

The project seeks to ensure the availability of treatment for many chronic diseases, including liver and kidney diseases, and burns, Assistant Health Minister for Information and Community Outreach, and official spokesperson of the ministry Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

He added that the ministry had set up six plasma donation centers in five governorates, the first of which was opened in Ehab Serag El-Din Center for blood transfusion services in Giza’s Al-Agouza district.

Other plasma donation venues include the regional blood transfusion centers in Cairo’s Dar El-Salam and Abbasiya districts, Alexandria, Gharbiya and Minya, the spokesman added.

He noted that the ministry will set up 20 more centers this year.

Healthy adults over the age of 18 may donate their blood plasma if they had not donated within the last three months, Megahed pointed out.

The project, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is meant to encourage recovered coronarvirus patients to donate blood plasma after it proved to be effective in treating coronvirus cases.