Blood transfusion continues to be an important element of the modern-day medicare. It becomes a necessity in various medical conditions including surgery. In many cases survival of a patient depends on the timely transfusion of blood.
However, the quality of the blood transfused into patients remains a very important issue since contaminated blood or blood carrying serious disease causing bacteria or viruses tends to do more harm than good. In some cases, this might cause even death to patients.
The blood transfusion service until the early part of the 2000s was very rudimentary and neglected in the overall healthcare planning of the government. Paid donors, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, published in 2001, shared the large part (70 per cent) of blood collected throughout the country. The prevalence of Hepatitis, Syphilis and other infectious diseases among the 'paid' donors was very high.
Since most people were unwilling to donate blood for their own relatives and others, the 'paid' donors used to make available blood to government hospitals at regular intervals. However drug addicts are still found selling their blood to both approved and unapproved blood banks.
There is no denying that, for the last two decades, the situation has changed for the better in the case of blood donation and blood transfusion. Yet much more need to be done both at the government and private levels, in terms of logistics and manpower, to ensure safe transfusion of blood across the country.
The campaign launched by voluntary organisations, including Sandhani and the International Red Crescent Society to motivate people for donating blood has worked well, particularly among the youths.
Many youths have developed a habit of donating blood regularly. If they are physically fit, they do usually respond instantly to any appeal for blood donation. This has largely contributed to a gradual decline in the dominance of the 'paid' donors in the blood banks. However, patients belonging to the low income and poor families are still dependent on blood sourced from 'blood banks' having dubious record.
Bangladesh is still far away from ensuring safe blood transfusion at all health facilities. The authorities concerned have been very slow in taking necessary measures in ensuring safe blood transfusion throughout the country. Rather they have 'put the cart before the horse' in the affairs of safe blood transfusion. The government, instead of formulating the national blood policy first, adopted the safe blood transfusion act in 2004 and took long four years to make relevant rules.
Finally, the national blood policy was approved in November 2013. Since late 1998 the government has established more than 100 safe blood transfusion centres across the country, mainly at government medical college and district hospitals. But blood banks in the private sector alongside a limited number of government-approved ones have sprung like mushrooms across the country.
Besides, there exist a national safe blood council and a national safe blood transfusion expert committee under it. The committee is supposed to implement the decision of the council that, actually, carries out the role of a regulator. But as it happens in the case of many government councils and committees, neither the council nor the committee on safe blood transfusion has been able to do its job as required under the relevant law. They are handicapped by lack of manpower and resources to oversee the activities of blood banks not only in Dhaka but also other areas of the country. The blood bank licensing unit at the health directorate also has been facing the same problems.
The recently-approved national policy, among others, provides for the establishment of a national blood centre having the mandate to control all the blood banks, monitor safe blood transfusion and manage blood screening and separation facilities. But the things have been pretty slow, in terms of fund allocation and physical progress, in the establishment of the proposed centre. Given the importance of blood transfusion in medical science, the government can no more allow a kind of free-for-all situation in this sub-sector. Rather it must ensure the safe blood transfusion, at least, for the patients who cannot afford treatment at expensive private hospitals.
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