Blood Donation & Universal Access To Safe Blood Transfusion.

Blood Donation & Universal Access To Safe Blood Transfusion.

By Esther Akinmade

Transfusion of blood and blood products is a discovery that has saved millions of lives every year, this goes to show how essential Blood and blood products are, when it comes to the proper management of;

-Women suffering from bleeding associated with pregnancy and childbirth,

-Children suffering from severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition

-Patients with blood and bone marrow disorders

-Inherited disorders of haemoglobin and immune deficiency conditions.

-Victims of trauma, emergencies, disasters and accidents.

-Patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures.

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Although the need for blood and blood products is universal, there is a marked difference in the level of access to safe blood and blood products across and within countries.

In many countries, blood services face the additional challenge of making sufficient blood and blood products available, while also ensuring its quality and safety.

In May 2005, during the Fifty-Eight(58) World Health Assembly, ministers of health from across the world made a unanimous declaration of commitment and support towards voluntary blood donation, through resolution WHA58.13, they designated World Blood Donor Day as an annual event to be held each year on 14 June.

Furthermore, the resolution urges the Member States to implement and support well organized, nationally-coordinated and sustainable blood programmes with appropriate regulatory oversight. The support requires that governments provide adequate financing for high-quality blood donation services and for the expansion of these services so that sufficient safe blood can be collected to meet the needs of patients.

In 2009, experts in transfusion medicine, policy-makers and non -Governmental representatives from 40 countries formulated the Melbourne Declaration, which set up a goal for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors by 2020.

The focus of this year’s campaign;

The theme of this year’s campaign is “Blood donation and universal access to safe blood transfusion, as a component of achieving universal health coverage.”

While the slogan is “SAFE BLOOD FOR ALL” which is geared towards raising awareness of the universal need for safe blood in the delivery of health care and the crucial roles that voluntary donations play in achieving the goal of universal health coverage.

The theme strongly encourages more people all over the world to become blood donors and donate blood regularly, an action which is key to building a strong foundation of sustainable national blood supplies that are sufficient to meet the needs of all patients requiring transfusion.

The day and the theme is also a call to action to all Governments, National Health Authorities and National Blood Services to provide adequate resources and put in place systems and infrastructures that will increase collection of blood from voluntary, regular unpaid blood donors , provide quality donor care , promote and implement appropriate clinical use of blood, and to set up systems for the oversight and surveillance on the whole chain of blood transfusion.

The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda. The global event will be held in Kigali, Rwanda on 14th June 2019.

WHAT CAN WE DO? ;

Everyone must Become a blood donor today and help save lives,
Commit to being a regular blood donor throughout the year,
Encourage your friends and family to become regular blood donors,
Find out your blood type and register as a blood donor and
Participate in local World Blood Donor Day events.

Ministries of Health must
Provide resources and infrastructure to facilitate voluntary blood donation,
Put quality assurance systems in place for blood and blood products,
Download and distribute WHO’s World Blood Donor Day materials to health centres and
Speak to the media about the importance of blood donation.

WHO CAN GIVE BLOOD? ;

Most people can give blood if they are in good health. There are some basic requirements one need to fulfil in order to become a blood donor.

Below are some basic eligibility guidelines;

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-Age

You must be aged between 18 and 65.

In some countries, national legislation permits 16–17-year-olds to donate, provided that they fulfil the physical and haematological criteria required and that appropriate consent is obtained.
In some countries, regular donors over the age of 65 may be accepted at the discretion of a responsible physician, however, The upper age limit in some countries is 60.

Weight;

You should be at least 50 kg:

In some countries, blood donors should weigh at least 45 kg to be able to donate 350 ml ± 10%.

Health;

You must be in good health at the time you donate:

You cannot donate blood if you have a cold, flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach bug or any other infection.
If you have recently had a tattoo or body piercing, you cannot donate for 6 months from the date of the procedure. If the body piercing was performed by a registered health professional and any inflammation has settled completely, you can donate blood after 12 hours.

If you have visited the dentist for a minor procedure you must wait 24 hours before donating.

You must not donate blood If you do not meet the minimum haemoglobin level for blood donation;

A test will be administered at the donation site. In many countries, a haemoglobin level of not less than 12.0 g/dl for females and not less than 13.0 g/dl for males as the threshold.

When You must not give blood;

If you engaged in “at risk ” sexual activity in the past 12 months,
Individuals with behaviours below will be deferred permanently:

If they have ever had a positive test for HIV (AIDS virus)

-If they have ever injected recreational drugs.

In the national blood donor selection guidelines, there are more behaviour eligibility criteria. Criteria could be different in different countries.

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Pregnancy and breastfeeding;

Following pregnancy, the deferral period should last as many months as the duration of the pregnancy.
It is not advisable to donate blood while breastfeeding.

Following childbirth, the deferral period is at least 9 months (as for pregnancy) and until 3 months after your baby is significantly weaned

(i.e. getting most of his/her nutrition from solids or bottle feeding).

In conclusion, Governments, national health authorities and national blood services should work together to ensure systems and infrastructure are in place to increase collection of blood from voluntary regular unpaid donors, establish and strengthen quality assurance systems for blood and blood products to ensure safe blood and blood products, provide quality donor care, promote and implement appropriate clinical use of blood; and oversee the whole chain of blood transfusion.