Doctors at Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna) Hospital in the northern province of Balkh have used the blood plasma donated by survivors of the coronavirus for 30 patients and all have reported improvement in their condition almost two weeks after the method was implemented.

The head of the anesthesia department of the hospital, Hamidullah Sediqqi, called the survivors' plasma very effective for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

“I was the first patient who received convalescent plasma and I got two doses, each 150 cc in 12 hour intervals. I felt very good changes after that,” said Sediqqi.

Sediqqi has graduated from the Faculty of Medicines at Balkh University in 2002. He studied anesthesiology in Norway.

Sediqqi says he is happy to have survived as he wants to further help patients.

“I am ready to donate blood to those who are in need,” he said. “Those who have survived COVID-19, they should donate blood voluntarily to save others.”

The Associated Press in a report on June 12 says that thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with so-called convalescent plasma — including more than 20,000 in the US — with little solid evidence so far that it makes a difference. One recent study from China was unclear while another from New York offered a hint of benefit, AP says.

“We treated seven patients at the emergency ward in our hospital with convalescent plasma and used survivor plasma for 23 other patients at their homes in consultation with the scientific council of the hospital,” said Ghawsuddin Anwari, head of Abu Ali Sina Hospital.

Doctors say plasma makes 55 percent of human blood and it is widely used for coronavirus patients.

“We are getting 500 ml blood from each recovered COVID-19 patient and can extract 300ml of plasma,” said Assadullah Mohmand, head of the blood bank department of the hospital.

Data by the Public Health Ministry shows that over 1,900 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the province.

“The number of recovered patients is over 500 and we have had 49 deaths,” said Nizamuddin Jalil, the acting head of the public health directorate.