According to the hospital’s Head of Public Relations, Aminiel Aligaesha, at least 100 units are required daily, but supply has dwindled to less than 60 units a day. A unit of blood is a 450-milligramme bottle.
Aligaesha told The Guardian recently that due to the shortage, the hospital has resorted to channel the available units to the emergency department despite demand in other sections as well.
He explained that blood transfusion is mostly needed in expectant mothers’ section, emergency unit, department for children with cancer as well as for surgical purposes.
The officer attributed the shortage of blood supply at the hospital to insufficient number of blood donors.
"MNH receives patients from various parts of the country as a result this has created a higher demand of blood at the hospital… the number of patients in need of blood transfusion daily surpasses our supply,” he said, adding that at the moment the hospital can only supply 50 units of blood per day contrary to the actual demand of 100 units.
He called on the general public to volunteer to donate blood to rescue lives of patients in need of blood transfusion instantly.
Aveline Mgasa, the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) Eastern Zone Manager admitted that there is shortage of blood at MNH, saying it is one of the major challenges facing the MNH, noting that the hospital has the capacity to collect 160,000 litres of blood but the demand is 450,000 litres.
She said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), if blood is donated by one percent of the population then the required 450,000 litres annually will be obtained.
Responsible officials have attributed the lack of awareness on voluntary blood donation to the acute scarcity of safe blood in several hospitals across the country.
Dr Said Mwamba, a laboratory manager at Mwananyamala hospital, now the Kinondoni District Referral Hospital, told this paper that demand for blood transfusion at the hospital is increasing due to various factors including illnesses associated with HIV/Aids.
He said some drugs taken by people living with HIV/Aids have negative effects including loss of blood.
“Our hospital safe blood demand is 160 units per month but we receive 115 to 137 units from the National Blood Transfusion Services which is way below the demand that is why we are sometimes forced to transfer them to the national hospital,” said Dr Mwamba.
0 comments:
Post a Comment