The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has always been in the vanguard of action and its humanitarian services rendered during the manmade and natural disasters and peacetime cannot be ignored, said President Dr Arif Alvi during a meeting with a PRCS delegation led by Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi at the President House on Tuesday.
The president made a special mention of the PRCS community resilience programs aimed at enhancing the ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and bounce back rapidly from disruptions caused by the natural and manmade disasters. He said volunteers are an asset of the PRCS and emphasized the need for imparting first aid training to all of them. He directed the PRCS to give top priority to first aid, blood donation and ambulance service. The president said the commencement of ambulance service in major cities of the country is a great achievement and suggested its extension to the remotest areas of the country.
President Alvi said that presently only two per cent Pakistanis donate blood and that there is a need to motivate people in this regard through various available platforms, including mosques. The first aid services play a critical role in saving precious human lives and the PRCS is rendering admirable services in this regard, he noted.
Dr Saeed Elahi apprised President Arif Alvi about different PRCS programs including first aid, blood donation, youth and volunteers, ambulance service, National Ambulance Service College, climate change adaptation and ongoing welfare activities in Pakistan. He said the PRCS hasover a million registered volunteers who render services during the public awareness campaigns, community projects and natural and manmade disasters. He said the number of volunteers will be increased to five million in the coming years.
The PRCS delegation included Vice Chairman Naguib Ullah Malik, Treasurer Mumtaz Haider Rizvi, members of Managing Body Justice (r) Sheikh Ahmed Farooq, Dr Jamal Nasir, Mian Abdul Rauf and Syed Azfar Ali Nasir, Brigadier (r) Abdul Hadi, PRCS Sindh Chairperson Shahnaz Hamid, Secretary General Khalid Bin Majeed and Director Finance Muhammad Rashid Gul.
