Internationally recognized epidemiologist Dr Tahir Shamsi met NDMA Chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Afzal to discuss treatment of coronavirus patients through plasma therapy, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.
Briefing the NDMA meeting, Dr Tahir Shamsi said that by donating plasma the lives of at least two patients can be saved and results show that 80 percent of the patients recover from plasma therapy.
During the meeting, it was also decided to expand the treatment facilities through plasma therapy and the NDMA Chairman assured provision of all the necessary facilities. The NDMA Chairman said that a special helpline is being set up for those who want to voluntarily donate plasma while the information of those who donated plasma would be kept confidential.
This helpline would ensure a smooth process right from finding a possible donor and till the final plasma donation.
Moreover, Dr Tahir Shamsi also added that there is neither a vaccine to cure corona nor any other recognized treatment yet; so 80 to 90 percent of critical patients who are being transferred to ventilators fail to recover but the treatment can be made more effective with the plasma therapy.
He also added that unfortunately people are not responding well to the donation of plasma as they are receiving applications for plasma treatment from around 300 people every day and people who recover from corona can donate plasma every week. Dr Tahir Shamsi appealed to recovered patients to come forward and donate plasma for the good cause.
It is pertinent to mention that due to non-availability to any proper plasma donation channel, frauds have been reported on the social media in the name of plasma donation where a possible donor demands a certain amount of money in exchange for plasma donation and even in some cases, the donor does not show up even after the amount has been transferred.