Internation-ally acclaimed and Oscar Award winner Pakistani Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been appointed "Ambassador for Blood Safety" (honorary) by the Government of Pakistan. "To promote the national blood safety program in Pakistan, Sharmeen has been appointed as the Honorary Ambassador for Blood Safety," Professor Hasan Abbas Zaheer, National Co-ordinator, Safe Blood Transfusion Programme. here on Wednesday said.
As Honorary Ambassador, Chinoy will promote the culture of voluntary blood donation especially among the youth besides advocating safe blood transfusions in the country, he said. Sharmeen Chinoy is the first Pakistani to win an Oscar Award for producing a documentary 'Saving Face.' She is internationally acclaimed filmmaker for highlighting women rights. She has also produced documentaries on various health issues including blood transfusion and blood safety.
For bringing honour to Pakistan as a filmmaker, Chinoy has been conferred with the highest civilian award Hilal-e-Imtiaz. This year Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's latest documentary 'A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness' is one of 5 films world-wide to be nominated in the category of Best Documentary by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has also received two Emmy Awards for her documentaries. The Time magazine named Sharmeen in their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2012. Saira Afzal Tarar, State Minister for Health welcomed the association of Sharmeen with the Safe Blood Transfusion Program which she termed as a 'Success Story' and a 'model to emulate'. The Minister stated that access and provision of safe blood for transfusion to all in the country is one of the government's major priorities in the health sector.-PR