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Govt probes sale of blood in hospitals
Blood packs at the Uganda Blood Bank being screened before storage. Government is investigating reports that some hospitals sell blood to patients yet it is meant to be given freely. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- The UBTS is mandated to collect, process and issue blood to all those healthcare facilities that have been accredited, that have shown they have facilities to keep blood, store and transfuse blood.
Officials at the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) and the Health ministry say they have increased investigations to arrest people who are reportedly involved in illegal sale of blood in hospitals.
“We collect this blood [for] free from voluntary blood donors,” Dr Dorothy Kyeyune Byabazaire, the UBTS executive director, said, adding: “This blood must be given free by all government and private healthcare facilities.”
However, Dr Kyeyune noted that some Ugandans, blood donors included, are being asked to pay to get blood transfusion services.
“But there are other times when we have heard, when we have witnessed when blood is sold by healthcare providers, and this has even attracted the attention of His Excellency, the President,” he said.
“We have started investigations, we have started ways of improving. For those we have caught and apprehended, we have taken them to court and punitive measures have been undertaken,” she said.
She did not reveal the number or details of culprits.
Dr Kyeyune said this in Kampala yesterday while addressing journalists about the 11th Africa Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT) Congress that will be held from March 4-7, a conference in Kampala where experts are expected to discuss innovative ways to improve transfusion services.
She said those accessing blood transfusion services from private facilities can be asked to meet some related costs but not pay for blood.
“What we understand in private healthcare facilities is that the charges are towards the blood cross-match and the blood transfusion set which is used to administer blood,” she said.
“At times patients tend to misunderstand this charge. When they ask you to pay for this, then they [patients] think they asked them to pay for blood. But this [payment] has to happen because there is no way they can give you blood without cross-matching to ensure it is fit for you,” she added.
The UBTS is mandated to collect, process and issue blood to all those healthcare facilities that have been accredited, that have shown they have facilities to keep blood, store and transfuse blood.
“We also supervise healthcare facilities to make sure blood given to them is accounted for by the facility. They [health facilities] are supposed to account so that we know the blood needs in our country but many times this doesn’t happen, they fail to account for it,” Dr Kyeyune further revealed.
There are several media reports where caretakers of patients said they were asked to pay to get blood. In 2018, this newspaper reported an incident in Kamuli Hospital where a caretaker said she was asked to pay Shs30,000 for a unit of blood but she negotiated to Shs15,000. Another official at the facility was, according to the same story, asked to pay Shs100,000 for a unit of blood.
Solutions
Dr Charles Olaro, the director of clinical services at the Health ministry said: “Sale of blood is illegal but in every system you will always find some people who do those things against the law. We want to partner with the media and the public to be able to expose.”
“From this conference, we are looking for innovative ways to be able to trace these blood units [to the final user –patient]. What we have found is that for some of the blood units, some people have altered the markers [on them] so UBTS cannot trace which facility collected this blood from the blood bank. We want to put markers where we will be able to trace.
“For the facilities that need blood, we ask them to come and get accreditation. We see that some facilities collect blood [from the blood bank] and others collect blood from them. We need to fight the selling because it affects people who donate. Recently we had people who have been arrested and they have been prosecuted,” he said.
Prof Isaac Kajja, a blood transfusion specialist, who previously served as the AfSBT secretary general, said among the issues in the country is shortage of blood.
“We are collecting 300,000 units of blood annually and yet we require up to 450,000 units of blood annually. We are only able to collect up to two-thirds of the required blood and yet the demand is increasing. The disease burden is stretching us and therefore we need to work harder to get more blood,” he said.
“We go to collect this blood from the population, some individuals, and a relatively big number, are not allowed to donate because they are anaemic. We have adult chronic anaemia in the population. So when these programs help you know what to eat so you have enough blood, let us embrace that so that we have enough blood and also be prepared to donate blood,” he added.
Solutions
Dr Charles Olaro, the director of clinical services at the Health ministry said: “Sale of blood is illegal but in every system you will always find some people who do those things against the law. We want to partner with the media and the public to be able to expose.”
Prof Isaac Kajja, a blood transfusion specialist, who previously served as the AfSBT secretary general, said: “We are collecting 300,000 units of blood annually and yet we require up to 450,000 units of blood annually. We are only able to collect up to two-thirds of the required blood and yet the demand is increasing. The disease burden is stretching us and therefore we need to work harder to get more blood.’’
“We go to collect this blood from the population, some individuals, and a relatively big number, are not allowed to donate because they are anaemic. We have adult chronic anaemia in the population. So when these programmes help you know what to eat so you have enough blood, let us embrace that so that we have enough blood,’’ he added.
