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The newly constructed National Blood Center (NBC) funded by the Government of Japan was commissioned and handed over to the people at a ceremony held on 2nd November 2006 in the presence of Hon. Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, H.E. Mr. Kiyoshi Araki, Ambassador of Japan, Hon. A.H.M. Fowzie, Minister of Transport and Railway, Petroleum and Petroleum Resources, Hon. Jayaratne Herath, Deputy Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, Hon. Wadiwell Suresh, Deputy Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition and Hon. Alawi Mawlana, Governor of Western Province. This project has been constructed under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Loan of the Government of Japan at a cost of Yen 1,508 million (approximately Rs. 1,327 million) through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The National Blood Center was constructed as the first ever Yen Loan project to the health sector in the South Asian Region. The objective of the project is to increase the supply of blood and blood products, improve the safety of the blood and blood products, establish a more efficient blood transfusion network in the country and strengthen the technical capability of the NBTS staff thus aiming at upgrading basic blood supply system and the health service level as a whole in Sri Lanka. After its completion, NBTS is expected to increase the capacity of blood collection from volunteer donors by 100% and capacity of storage by 300% compared to the earlier situation. This has led to a significant improvement in the quality of services, which in consequence will enhance the safety of blood to patients. In addition to the construction of NBC, the Project has provided equipment and material to the NBC, the provincial blood banks as well as the regional blood banks and training of relevant personnel. It has also provided consultancy services for supervising the project implementation, including the environmental considerations and training. The task of training and education in particular, which aims at enhancing the management of transfusion blood, has been conducted in alliance with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and World Health Organization (WHO) in line with the international standards, and is expected to adopt infectious disease control measures. The Executing Agency is the MoHN, Sri Lanka. The new NBC has three floors of a total floor area about 5,000 m2 and is fully equipped with facilities for blood collection and storage, blood component preparation, automated testing, reference laboratories and staff training.
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