More safe blood is needed in Africa, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) on World Blood Day on Wednesday.
”The need to collect enough blood and to make it available for patients is more acute in developing countries, and particularly in Africa,” said Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, the regional director of the WHO regional office for Africa.
”Many patients, especially women and children, die because of lack of blood or are infected when transfused with unsafe blood. This occurs often in remote areas, which lack facilities for blood collecting and processing.”
Sambo said it was a government responsibility to ensure adequate provision of safe blood.
World Blood Donor Day, June 14, highlights the significance of voluntary unpaid blood donations in the provision of adequate and safe blood supplies.
The theme of Blood Donor Day this year is ”Commitment to ensure universal access to safe blood”.
In 2001 in Brazzaville, Africa’s ministers of health adopted a policy of encouraging voluntary blood donations.
Sambo said recent surveys in 38 African countries revealed that in a population of over 430-million people, about 2,2-million units of blood were collected in 2004.
This is about five units per 1 000 people, far below the estimated requirement of 10 to 30 units per 1 000, said Sambo. In only 12 countries, not identified, was the blood entirely from voluntary, unpaid donors.
Of this, 98,5% was screened for HIV, 94,53% for hepatitis B, 81% for hepatitis C and 96,25% for syphilis.
”The risk of transmitting these diseases via blood transfusion therefore exists because not all blood is screened prior to transfusion,” said Sambo.
”Unfortunately, in some countries, these diseases are sometimes prevalent among first-time donors.”
He said some countries, which he did not name, had made significant achievements ”because of political commitment and strategy implementation”.
Sambo called on all those who were ”healthy and eligible” to donate blood to ensure universal access to safe blood, and said the WHO regional office for Africa would support countries in building up reliable and effective blood-transfusion services based on voluntary, unpaid donations. — Sapa