Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, UAE Minister for Health, attended a workshop “Pathogen Reduction for Safe Transfusion” organised by the ministry in the Blood Transfusion and Research Centre in Sharjah on Wednesday in co-operation with CERUS, Europe and Al Hayat pharmaceuticals.
The workshop was organised as part of the activities of the centre in Sharjah under the patronage of Minister of Health to reassure the UAE’s regional leadership in this field.
The workshop was attended by a number of representatives in the blood transfusion field from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman in addition to several hospital and blood transfusion directors from the ministry of health, HAAD, DHA and private hospitals in the UAE.
The guest speakers of the workshop were Pascal Mercier, Business Director EEMEA, Cerus BV Europe and Dr Johannes Irsch, scientific director, Cerus Europe. About 70 participants from various public and private sectors attended the workshop as well.
It is noted that the Blood Transfusion and Research Centre in Sharjah began using Pathogen inactivation for blood and components, a new technology worldwide that aims for inactivation of all pathogens i.e. (viruses , bacteria, protozoa, parasites) which may be present in the blood due to the presence of these pathogen in very low titer the screening tests cannot detect them .
This technology will block the nucleic acid of pathogen and prevent its replication.
WAM