Blood bags, medical masks, food boxes and gifts of Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan were provided to the Sundas Thalassemia Center of Pakistan

Visiting Sundas Thalassemia Center of Pakistan in Islamabad on this occasion, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Ali Alizada has met with the medical staff of the Center, as well as the patients and their families. The Chief Administrator of the Center, Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Aftab Hussain, briefed Ambassador about the facilities of the Center and patients who are being treated there. He said that Sundas Thalassemia Center has been operating for more than 20 years, and more than 350 children from different parts of Pakistan suffering from thalassemia and more than 60 children suffering from hemophilia are currently receiving free treatment and blood transfusion. He noted that the Center, which was the first of its kind in Pakistan and was visited by the President and First Lady of the country, also provides financial and logistical support to the families of patients. Then the Ambassador of Azerbaijan was invited to get acquainted with transfusion ward, lab, blood bank and pharmacy of the Center.

Greeting the medical personnel and the patients of the Center, as well as their family members, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Ali Alizada on behalf of Heydar Aliyev Foundation congratulated them on the advent of holy month of Ramadan and expressed his best wishes. He mentioned that Heydar Aliyev Foundation is doing a remarkable works for the treatment of patients suffering from thalassemia and hemophilia in Azerbaijan and abroad, and the medical equipment, masks, food boxes and gifts which will be presented to the Thalassemia Center, have also been provided by the support of the Foundation. 

Ali Alizada recalled that after the devastating earthquake in 2005, Heydar Aliyev Foundation started its work in Pakistan and constructed a new school for girls in Muzaffarabad, by the initiative of the President of the Foundation, First Lady of Azerbaijan – Mehriban Aliyeva. Ambassador noted that during these 15 years the Foundation initiated a series of social and humanitarian projects in all provinces of Pakistan. He noted that the Foundation assisted in the establishment of Thalassemia Center in Islamabad, donated ambulances and thousands of blood bags to various charity organizations of Pakistan, did not forget orphans and special children during Ramadan every year, organizing iftar dinners and presenting gifts to them. The Ambassador expressed his gratitude to patients of the Sundus Thalassemia Center for joining an iftar dinner organized for orphans and special children at the Aiwan-e-Sadr last year, with the participation of the President of Pakistan and the First Lady. He added that the organization of iftar dinners were not possible this year due to the pandemic, but other charitable activities of the Foundation would be continue. Ambassador A. Alizada expressed that, the social and humanitarian projects implemented in Pakistan by the Foundation serve to further strengthen and deepen friendly and fraternal relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan. At the end, blood bags and medical masks purchased with the support of the Foundation, as well as food boxes and toys prepared for the patients of the Thalassemia Center were presented.

Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Aftab Hussain, Chief Administrator of the Center also stressed that the social and humanitarian projects of Heydar Aliyev Foundation are being implemented regularly in Pakistan and expressed his gratitude to the Foundation and its leadership for providing blood bags, medical masks, food boxes and gifts to the Thalassemia Center.