22-year-old mother dies as blood shortage hits Apac hospital

A 22-year-old mother has lost her life at Apac Hospital in northern Uganda due to lack of blood for transfusion.
Sandra Akello, a resident of Adok village, Alworoceng parish in Ibuje Sub County was referred to Apac General Hospital by Reproductive Health Uganda following a forced abortion.

She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the hospital.
Doctors said she had lost a lot of blood and needed urgent blood transfusion but by the time she got to the facility, the blood bank was empty.
Dr Sabiiti Fanuel, the Acting Medical Superintendent at Apac Hospital confirmed her death and said there was nothing they could do to save her life.
“It is not like we are sleeping; we are concerned. We get our blood from Gulu. We are always in touch but they tell us there's no blood. What do we do? It is a national crisis. As I talk, this afternoon somebody brought a mother. She died. We couldn't do anything. They just took the body home,” he said.

He said at the time of Akello’s death, their laboratory team had travelled to Lira to collect blood from Lira Regional Referral Hospital.
“In this region, we work as a team. Sickness has no borders or respect but I'm so much impressed by the way the health facilities in this team work. It is true there was no blood in Lira. But when they took the blood they had collected for screening in Gulu, they got some units. And we were given information. As I talk now, the lab manager of that hospital is in Lira and has secured about 12 units,” he said.
Records from the laboratory show that it has been one week since Apac Hospital ran out of blood. The last 15 units of blood were collected on December 24, 2019 from Gulu Blood Bank and used to save 26 lives.

On January 9, 2020, the Hospital Administration was forced to borrow a unit of blood from Florence Nightingale, a private Hospital in the neighborhood to save the life of a little child brought in the emergency ward.
Eight clients required blood transfusion between January 6 and 10. All were waiting on the blood from Lira.

Mr Julius Peter Odyek, the senior Laboratory Technologist and Lab manager at Apac Hospital, said the biggest challenge they face is that at times there is blood which is not compatible with the blood type of the recipients.
Joseph Onuk, the Senior Administrator Apac Hospital called on everyone to donate blood in order to save others.
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital hosts Gulu Regional Blood Bank, the only supplier of Blood in Northern Uganda.