CAIRO — As the Egyptian government seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in the field of plasma collection for the manufacture and export of plasma-derived products, the parliament’s Health Committee approved during its meeting held Dec. 8 the final form of a draft law submitted by the Egyptian government on regulating blood operations and collecting plasma for the manufacture and export of plasma derivatives.

The draft law includes a road map for the collection of plasma and its derivatives in order to achieve self-sufficiency. It includes five chapters consisting of 23 articles related to blood operations, plasma collection, manufacture of plasma-derived products and plasma transfusion with the intention of manufacturing its derivatives abroad and then returning them in the form of biological products. The law also covers the import and export of plasma as a raw material or as a material for any stage of the manufacturing process.

The draft law gave those targeted by its provision — namely medical institutions and companies involved in plasma collection — three months to regularize their status starting from the date of issuance of the executive regulations.

Some of the draft law articles restrict blood transfusions to specialized centers that can be either fixed or mobile upon obtaining a license from the Ministry of Health, provided this license is issued to governmental and nongovernmental entities that are competent to carry out blood transfusions.