Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed announced on Wednesday the launching of a national project for blood plasma donation for medicine production as part of the president’s initiative to achieve self-sufficiency in producing plasma derivatives. 

The project aims to ensure the availability of treatment for many chronic diseases, including liver and kidney diseases, a health ministry statement cited Zayed as saying.

The health minister donated plasma in Ehab Serag El-Din Centre for blood transfusion services in Giza’s Al-Agouza district, becoming the first permanent plasma donor in the project.

Zayed announced the inauguration of plasma collection services in six centres across five Egyptian governorates, including three in Greater Cairo.

The plasma donation services will be provided in the regional blood transfusion centres of Cairo’s Dar El-Salam and Abbasiya districts, Alexandria, Gharbiya’s Tanta city and Upper Egypt’s Minya, according to the statement.

Zayed noted that 20 centres will be allocated for plasma donation during this year.

The minister urged citizens over 18 years old to take part in the project by donating blood once every two weeks and becoming permanent donors.

Donors will not bear any financial expenses and will be compensated for their time and commuting expenses.

Zayed affirmed that donating plasma has numerous benefits for donors, including encouraging the bone marrow to produce new blood cells and activating the organs responsible for renewing plasma proteins.

Donors also undergo a periodic medical examination free of charge that includes checking for all diseases and viruses, Zayed said.

The centres are provided with the latest equipment in accordance with international standards and under the supervision of the World Health Organisation, Zayed said.

She noted that this comes in preparation for the international verification of these centres.

Each donor will receive an identification card with a QR code that they can use in subsequent visits, health ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said, noting that the donation centre will communicate with each donor every two weeks to schedule a date for donations.

Egypt first called on citizens to donate plasma last year to contribute to the plasma therapy trials for coronavirus patients, urging those who have recovered from the virus to head to the nearest ministry-affiliated blood transfusion centre.

Last month, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi hailed the plasma project as a dream-come-true. In July, he said the project would be very important for the Egyptian state if implemented in the right way.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in April that the country will establish the first factory for blood plasma derivatives as per El-Sisi’s directives in the New Administrative Capital by the end of next year.