Unscreened blood transfusion is happening at an alarming rate in the country in the absence of monitoring by the government causing serious health risks across the country.
According to the Safe Blood Transfusion Society based in the city, currently more than 80 per cent of blood transfusions are done unscreened transmitting several deadly diseases.
Dr. Asadul Islam, head of the department of safe blood transfusion at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), said the number of licensed blood banks in the public sector is only 213 and the number of licensed blood banks in the private sector is 77.
But thousands of private clinics and hospitals were there in the country and most of those were rendering the blood transfusion service.
He said only the government hospitals and some private clinics, mainly in Dhaka, do have their licensed blood banks and they screen blood before transfusion.
A physician said the unsafe blood transfusion was transmitting diseases like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis A, B, C, E and G, TT Virus, bacterial contamination, syphilis, malaria, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis and many others.
A source at a private hospital said: "We screen blood before transfusing it and we check the spread of the germs of the deadly diseases in our laboratory tests."
A public hospital blood bank official said: "We are working at the blood bank as part of our additional duty and there are no permanent staffers for blood banks at government hospitals."
He said except few hospitals in Dhaka and other districts blood was not being screened at most of the public and private hospitals. As a result, after receiving the blood many patients were getting infected with various deadly diseases.
Another physician at the Birdem Hospital said the private hospitals in Dhaka like Square, United, Apollo, Labaid, Birdem and some others do have licensed blood banks and they screen blood before transfusion.
He said use of unscreened blood reached an alarming level outside the capital city, mainly at government hospitals and private clinics at the upazila level.
Mr. Islam of the BSMMU safe blood transfusion department said they did not see any tangible step taken by the director general for health in connection with monitoring on blood screening.
He said actually the government had been overlooking the matter and they did not view it as dangerous.
Another official at the Safe Blood Transfusion Society said in many cases blood was being screened but the reports were not perfect and it was being done by non-qualified and untrained personnel. As a result, germs were getting transmitted to healthy patients, he added.
He said in most of the private medical colleges there were no blood banks and if some did, they were not licensed by the government.
He said the government needed to take steps in maintaining safe blood transfusion across the country on an urgent basis, otherwise the ongoing situation might lead to a severe health hazard.
A professor at the medicine department of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital said another concern was the government was randomly providing blood bank licences to many hospital entrepreneurs.
He said before giving licences the government should ensure full compliance with the criteria and for the existing licensed blood banks there should be a proper central monitoring cell.
He also suggested establishment of a central blood centre.
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