The Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng in the middle on the right with delegates who attended the 11th AfSBT congress. PHOTO BY URN

URN

Experts attending the Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) congress at Munyonyo are concerned about wastage at hospitals. They say that sometimes blood transfusion is recommended when it is not needed.

According to the World Health Organization, the blood wastage rate in developed countries is reported to be between 0.1 per cent and 6.7 per cent. There is however limited information on blood wastage in Sub-Saharan African countries.     

The UN health agency has also noted that most times, blood wastage monitoring is not a priority in Sub-Saharan African countries because of other overwhelming problems such as blood-borne infection and low blood donor rates.   

Now, African blood transfusion experts who are meeting in Kampala have re-echoed the calls by the WHO to monitor the likelihood of blood wastage through proper stock management and optimal blood utilization practices. They have noted that blood is a valuable resource and blood wastage could impose a very serious impact on healthcare.

Dr. Aggrey Dhabangi, a lecturer at Makerere University School of Public Health and a transfusion physician said in most cases health workers tend to recommend blood transfusion as the first intervention yet it could come last. 

He said interventions iron tablets can play a very big role in treating iron deficiency anaemia or a condition when one’s body does not have enough iron.   Dr. Dhabangi called for awareness and sensitization for all clinicians on ways of managing patients without the need for transfusion. He added that in a bleeding situation, health workers have a lot they can do to minimize bleeding to avoid blood transfusion and save the blood.
 
Two years ago the World Health Organization (WHO) urged nations to implement patient blood management (PBM) to avoid blood waste and the effects that may occur to patients after a blood transfusion.

According to the WHO, Patient Blood Management is a patient-centered approach that addresses iron deficiency, anemia, coagulopathy, and blood loss, in both surgical and nonsurgical patients, as risk factors for adverse medical outcomes.

Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health, noted that over the past years, Uganda’s transfusion services have grown from 1 blood bank to 8 regional blood banks, leaving out only 10 regions yet to be covered.

The Minister added that Uganda collects 320,000 units of blood annually short of the 1 per cent where the country should be collecting 450,000 units collected annually. She pointed out there is a need to prevent road crushes which require much need for blood transfusion.

Mohammed Farouk the managing director of Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) highlighted that Congress is aimed at recognizing the achievements of Uganda in the field of blood transfusion. He also notes that the congress is aimed at raising public awareness about blood transfusion as well as knowledge exchange among experts from different countries.

Uganda is hosting the 11th 4-day congress which has brought together leading experts and stakeholders in the field of Blood Transfusion from across the continent, under the theme "Safe and New Sustainable Blood Services in Africa, New Clinical Advances, ICT Innovations and Technologies in Transfusion."