Saturday, June 15, 2013 Daily Times WHO for 100% blood supply from voluntary donors by 2020 * About 107 million blood donations collected globally, almost half in high-income countries ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organisation (WHO) called for all countries to obtain 100 percent of their supplies of blood and blood products from voluntary blood donors by 2020. According to the WHO, the need for blood and blood products is increasing every year, and many patients requiring life-saving transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood and blood products. It said providing safe and adequate blood should be an integral part of every country’s national healthcare policy and infrastructure. Speaking to media on Friday, Pakistan Safe Blood Transfusion Programme Project Director Prof Hasan Abbas Zaheer said the programme has developed into a very impressive public health project and is being successfully implemented not only at the federal level but also in all the provinces. He said the programme team is implementing this project of immense public health significance and is raising awareness about voluntary blood donation. He said that concrete steps have been taken to ensure that every person in the country has access to safe blood for transfusion. The WHO recommended that all activities related to blood collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution be coordinated at the national level through effective organisation and a national blood policy. This should be supported by appropriate legislation to promote uniform implementation of standards and consistency in the quality and safety of blood and blood products. According to available data, about 107 million blood donations collected globally and almost half of these are collected in the high-income countries. This shows an increase of almost 25 percent from 80 million donations collected in 2004. In low-income countries, up to 65 percent of blood transfusions are given to children under five years of age, whereas in high-income countries, the most frequently transfused patient group is over 65 years of age, accounting up to 76 percent of all transfusions. Blood donation rate in high-income countries is 39.2 donations per 1,000 population, 12.6 donations in middle-income and 4.0 donations in low-income countries. An increase of 7.70 million blood donations from voluntary donors from 2004 to 2011 is observed. About 71 countries collect over 90 percent of their blood supply from voluntary blood donors, while 73 countries collect more than 50 percent of their blood supply from family, replacement or paid donors. Only 41 out of 151 countries produce plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs) through the fractionation of plasma collected in the country, whereas the other 110 countries import PDMPs from abroad. In 2011, 68 percent of countries had a national blood policy, compared with 60 percent of countries in 2004. Overall, 62 percent of countries have specific legislation covering the safety and quality of blood transfusion. Data about the gender profile of blood donors shows that globally, 30 percent of blood donations are given by women. In 18 out of 104 reporting countries, less than 10 percent donations are given by female donors. Blood Donor’s Day 2013 celebrations aims to create awareness of the need for safe blood for transfusion and highlight the importance of blood donation. The theme of the campaign is `blood donation is a gift that saves lives’. The day serves to create awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. Moreover, the day will focus on the value of donated-blood to the patient, not only in saving life, but also in helping people live longer and lead more productive lives. “It is not that woman do not volunteer to donate blood. They do, but most of them are not eligible to donate. For example, many of them have very low haemoglobin levels or suffer from pernicious anaemia, Blood Bank Medical Director Jan Jagriti said. Blood banks and doctors say the huge deficit should be addressed and if more women contribute, it would help us to bridge the gap. The doctor also said a lot of myths still prevail among rural women about blood donation. app
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:33:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015