Inauguration speech

Dr. Alex Aquilina

Medical Director

National Blood Transfusion Service

Press Coverage

Saturday 5^th May, 2007

Lm130,000 blood donation centre opened

A new Lm130,000 blood donation centre was opened by Health Minister Louis Deguara yesterday.

The new centre, which is just outside St. Luke’s Hospital, is to be purposely kept separate from the main new hospital at Mater Dei so that blood donors do not have to give blood in a hospital environment.

It has a canteen, as well as DVD players and flat screen televisions, in order to allow time to pass more quickly. Dr Deguara explained: “Yes, we saw fit to splash out on these things because the 16-17,000 donors who give blood deserve better treatment.” Six people can give blood at any one time and donors do not need to make an appointment. The Blood Transfusion Unit staff will do everything in their power to see that donors are in and out as quickly as possible, within safety limits.

Dr Deguara explained that blood sorting and processing will continue at the old blood bank (which still has a very good reputation) until a new facility is built next to the Mount Carmel Hospital in Attard.

The new donor centre is up to European ISO standards. “We are already one of the best in Europe, and within a few years we aim to be the best blood transfusion centre on the continent,” said Dr Deguara.

He heaped praise on director Alex Aquilina, describing him as the driving force that has allowed Maltese society to achieve what it has. “He has been inspirational. What you see around him is all a result of his vision,” said Dr Deguara.

Dr Aquilina said that the two main factors that had been kept in mind during construction were the well-being of the donors and the ability to keep the place spotlessly clean. Following the unveiling of a plaque, the premises were blessed. The new centre is due to open its doors to the public on Monday.

Inawgurat ċentru ġdid għall-għoti tad-demm

Keith MICALLEF • 04/05/2007 18:28:32

Ġie inawgurat ċentru ġdid għad-donazzjoni tad-demm biswit l-Isptar San Luqa.

Iċ-ċentru l-ġdid sewa Lm130,000 u ser jieħu post dak antik, li ma kienx ilaħħaq mal-ħtiġijiet tal-lum, u ma' livell internazzjonali.

Fix-xhur li ġejjin ser ikompli l-immodernizzar tas-servizzi kollha tal-għoti tad-demm, fosthom il-bini ta' ċentru ġdid viċin l-Isptar Monte Carmeli.

Hu stmat li f'sena ssir madwar 15,000 donazzjoni tad-demm.


Ftuh taċ-Ċentru għad-Donazzjoni tad-Demm Il-ftuħ taċ-Ċentru għad-Donazzjoni tad-Demm huwa konferma oħra, jekk qatt kien hemm bżonn, ta’ l-impenn tal-Gvern li jagħti l-aqwa servizzi ta’ kura lill-poplu Malti. Dan se jikkomplimenta proġetti oħra li bħalissa għaddejjin fil-qasam tas-Saħħa, fosthom dak ta’ Mater Dei. Dan qalu l-Ministru tas-Saħħa, l-Anzjani u Kura fil-Komunità, Louis Deguara meta kien qiegħed jinawgura ċ-Ċentru ġdid għad-Donazzjoni tad-Demm li fetaħ biswit l-isptar San Luqa u li se jieħu post dak qadim li ma kienx adekwat biex ilaħħaq mal-ħtiġijiet tal-lum u ma’ livelli internazzjonali. Il-Ministru qal li kienet ilha tinħass il-ħtieġa li dan is-servizz jingħata minn post aħjar b’aktar kumdità speċjalment għad-donaturi u mhux anqas għall-ħaddiema ta’ dan iċ-Ċentru. Fit-twettieq ta’ dan il-proġett ingħatat attenzjoni partikulari għal mod kif tkun tista’ tinżamm l-indafa li hija essenzjali fil-proċess ta’ donazzjoni tad-demm u anki kif u fejn jiġi miżmum sakemm isir użu minnu. Iċ-Ċentru huwa ddisinjat b’mod li ji ż gura livelli għolja ta’ igene. Il-kobor ta’ dan il-post hu aktar mid-doppju ta’ dak li kien użat sa’ issa. Dan ippermetta li jkun hemm faċilitajiet adegwati biex id-donaturi jkunu komdi kemm qabel kif ukoll wara li jagħtu d-demm. Issa f’dan iċ-Ċentru hemm tliet kmamar fejn jiġu eżaminati d-donaturi, teatru b’sitt couches, uffiċini u faċilitatjiet għall-istaff. Il-Ministru qal li l-ftuħ ta’ dan iċ-Ċentru huwa l-ewwel fażi ta’ proġett akbar biex jitjiebu s-servizzi kollha li għandhom x’jaqsmu mal-faċilitajiet tal-bank tad-demm. Fil-fatt it-tieni u t-tielet fażi jikkonsistu fil-modernizzar tal-Mobile Blood Donation Unit, li x-xogħol fuqha se jibda f’Ottubru li ġej u l-bini ta’ post ġdid viċin l-isptar Monte Carmeli fejn se jkun jista’ jiġi proċessat id-demm. Flimkien ma’ dan kollu qegħda issir ħidma intensiva biex tiġi mplimentata Quality Management System li għandha twassal għal ċertifikazzjoni u akkreditazzjoni ISO konformi mal-EU Blood Directive. Din il-ħidma kollha tiggarantixxi sistema ta’ proviżjoni ta’ demm ħieles minn kull periklu għall-pazjenti tagħna. Il-Ministru rringrazzja lil dawk kollha li kienu involuti biex sar dan ix-xogħol li hu ta’ kwalità għolja ferm, lill-impjegati ta’ dan iċ-Ċentru tat it-tmexxija ta’ Dr. Alex Aqiuilina, lil Professur Seified mir-Red Cross tal-Ġermanja għal għajnuna esperta tiegħu biex jintlaħqu livelli ta’ kwalità. Fl-aħħar imma mhux l-anqas lill-eluf ta’ donaturi li jagħtu d-demm. Dan iċ-Ċentru hu stmat li se jkun sewa madwar Lm130,000 (€302,000).

		Dr. Alex Aquilina Medical Director National Blood Transfusion Service
It is with great pleasure that today we are inaugurating this new blood donation centre. One may ask, why do we need this new centre? Perhaps this question is best answered by answering another question. Who is the blood donor? The blood donor is that healthy person who voluntarily undergoes the inconvenience of spending time, sometimes hours and who donates a part of himself, blood, to save other people's lives. These people deserve the gratitude of our society, they deserve the best. This is one way of showing our gratitude for the lives they have helped to save. To the blood donors association here representing the donors, thank you for your efforts. I would also like to thank the Hon Minister for his support and political commitment for our endeavors to make the blood transfusion services of the highest quality. A thank you also to the administrative members and policy makers within the health ministry whose support and understanding is so crucial. To all the members of staff at the Blood bank, a thank you to you also. Without your commitment and dedication the standards we are all aiming for cannot be achieved. I know that I can count on your support. To the members of the press present, you can have a significant contribution within the blood bank. Thank you for the help we always receive in our hours of need. The appeals that you help us to deliver are a crucial component of our drive to attract donors. We have one aim, to provide the best for our patients. A final thank you to our foreign guests, Dott Giovanni Garozzo, from AVIS Italia the Italian voluntary blood donors organization and finally Professor Erhard Seifried from the German Red Cross. Professor Seified is the President elect of the International Society of Blood Transfusion and his presence is a great honour for us. Professor Seifried and his team have done and are still doing a significant contribution to the development of our blood services through their continuous support and advice. He is not only an authority, a friend and colleague, but through his contribution a friend of Malta and theMaltese patients. Thank you professor. Professor Erhard Seifried President (elect) International Society of Blood Transfusion The reason why we are here today is blood- blood donation. Blood is a pure, clear, lovely and amiable juice. One of the most famous poets, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: 'Blood is a very special fluid'. Blood is an extremely powerful symbol. Blood has an extremely social, cultural and scientific power. Blood signifies both: life and death, health and disease, power and weakness. Blood has been a magical as well as a vital substance throughout history. In Homer's "Odyssey" blood was described as the seat of the soul, Achillis drank the pure blood of a virgin, the Roman Emperors drank the blood of the strongest gladiators to become strong and healthy. That is in a certain sense what we are doing today. We transfuse blood to help people, to help patients. Blood was first transfused in the 17 ^th century from lamb to humans – with different results. Thereafter, blood was transfused directly from humans to humans – sometimes successfully, sometimes with a lethal outcome. The reason for the different clinical reasults was - as we know today - the compatibility or incompatibility of the blood groups. In 1990, Karl Landsteiner was the first to discover the ABO blood groups, a scientific breakthrough which definitely was the basis of blood donation and blood transfusion. Karl Landsteiner was honored with the Nobel Prize for medicine. In Malta, you are now getting one of the most modern hospitals in Europe. A number of patients will be treated with very modern and sophisticated treatment protocols. Many people - even physicians - do not know that blood transfusion and blood donation were two of the most important prerequisites for the development of high tech medicine. Bone marrow transplants, stem cell transplants, kidney, heart and liver transplants, chemotherapy of leukemia and cancer patients, treatment of intensive care medicine and polytrauma patients – all these would not be possible without blood transfusion. This means that modern high tech medicine and its future advancement is highly dependent on the readiness of people to donate blood. A big challenge in the future will be to motivate people to donate blood as voluntary unpaid blood donors. You in Malta, the health minister and of course, the medical director of the Malta National Blood transfusion Service, Dr. Alex Aquilina have made a very important decision, namely to establish a new blood donation center to guarantee a blood donation concept at the European safety level and high quality standards. Congratulations on your success. I wish you all the best for the future!! Fr. Bernard Mangion Fr. Bernard Mangion ex-chaplain St. Luke's Hospital blessed the new premises. Press Coverage Saturday 5^th May, 2007 Lm130,000 blood donation centre opened A new Lm130,000 blood donation centre was opened by Health Minister Louis Deguara yesterday. The new centre, which is just outside St. Luke’s Hospital, is to be purposely kept separate from the main new hospital at Mater Dei so that blood donors do not have to give blood in a hospital environment. It has a canteen, as well as DVD players and flat screen televisions, in order to allow time to pass more quickly. Dr Deguara explained: “Yes, we saw fit to splash out on these things because the 16-17,000 donors who give blood deserve better treatment.” Six people can give blood at any one time and donors do not need to make an appointment. The Blood Transfusion Unit staff will do everything in their power to see that donors are in and out as quickly as possible, within safety limits. Dr Deguara explained that blood sorting and processing will continue at the old blood bank (which still has a very good reputation) until a new facility is built next to the Mount Carmel Hospital in Attard. The new donor centre is up to European ISO standards. “We are already one of the best in Europe, and within a few years we aim to be the best blood transfusion centre on the continent,” said Dr Deguara. He heaped praise on director Alex Aquilina, describing him as the driving force that has allowed Maltese society to achieve what it has. “He has been inspirational. What you see around him is all a result of his vision,” said Dr Deguara. Dr Aquilina said that the two main factors that had been kept in mind during construction were the well-being of the donors and the ability to keep the place spotlessly clean. Following the unveiling of a plaque, the premises were blessed. The new centre is due to open its doors to the public on Monday. Inawgurat ċentru ġdid għall-għoti tad-demm Keith MICALLEF • 04/05/2007 18:28:32 Ġie inawgurat ċentru ġdid għad-donazzjoni tad-demm biswit l-Isptar San Luqa. Iċ-ċentru l-ġdid sewa Lm130,000 u ser jieħu post dak antik, li ma kienx ilaħħaq mal-ħtiġijiet tal-lum, u ma' livell internazzjonali. Fix-xhur li ġejjin ser ikompli l-immodernizzar tas-servizzi kollha tal-għoti tad-demm, fosthom il-bini ta' ċentru ġdid viċin l-Isptar Monte Carmeli. Hu stmat li f'sena ssir madwar 15,000 donazzjoni tad-demm.