Members of the Arabic Authority for Blood Transfusion Services (AABTS) have agreed recently to renew the services of Mr. Abdullah bin Zamil Al-Dirais, the MOH Assistant Undersecretary for the Affairs of Labs and Blood Banks, as chairman of AABTS for another term. The renewal has been made in appreciation of his efforts to improve the works of AABTS and upgrade blood transfusion services in the Arabic countries. Al-Dirais has also been nominated to the Arab Blood Transfusion Services Prize 2007.
Al-Dirais told reporters that the AABTS meeting in Cairo last month has reviewed a report on blood transfusion services in the Arabic countries. It also reviewed reports on the visits made by AABTS members to Yemen, Mauritania, and Sudan. The meeting called for more visits among member countries for facilitating exchange of experience. Agreement also have been made for setting a training plan for specialists in blood transfusion services in the Arabic countries. Qatar has been chosen for hosting the 2008 conference.
He said the meeting raised a number of recommendations to the Council of the Arab Ministers of Health for approval, including raising the budget allotted to AABTS to 100 thousand dollars, centralizing blood transfusion services in AABTS member countries, application of NAT technology checkup for all blood donors, revising the regulations of deriving stem cell centers from the blood of the umbilical cord in the Arabic countries.
The meeting sent appreciations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for sponsoring the 6th Arab Conference which was held last month in Riyadh, to Dr. Amro Musa, the Arab League Secretary General for his efficient role in supporting AABTS, and to KSA, Jordan, Tunisia, and Qatar for their blood donations to Palestine and Lebanon in 2006.