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Health Ministry unable to reach blood target

Dec 24, 2009 News

The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) will not be able to attain the 8,000 units of blood set by the Ministry of Health for this year.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, recently told Kaieteur News that December is usually a slow one, and as such the NBTS and the Ministry of Health will not be able to meet the established target.
If the 8,000-unit goal is to be met, then it will require 50 persons per day to donate blood. Currently, the NBTS has only been able to acquire approximately 7,600 units of blood.
But Minister Ramsammy explained that although the blood bank has not been able to meet the target, the entity is still meeting the daily demands, as they are currently in a position to respond to an emergency.
However, the Health Minister refuses to revert to the old method of collecting blood, by demanding it from families.
Dr. Ramsammy told Kaieteur News that the Ministry will not go back to the family replacement programme, where in order for someone to receive a unit of blood from the NBTS, family members would have to donate.
Recently, the NBTS issued an advisory urging that persons donate blood, since December happens to usually be the slowest month for blood collection. Fewer blood drives are held.
Dr. Leslie Ramsammy noted that while 5,000 Guyanese have become regular blood donors, the NBTS is still faced with the reality that December is a month of peak demand for blood.
The NBTS needs at least 50 donors per day for the rest of this month in order to meet the expected demand for blood products in the various hospitals.
“It is a season of giving. There is no better gift than the gift of life.
Give blood and you would have given the gift of life to someone,” Minister Ramsammy appealed.
He explained that for this year, more Guyanese have become blood donors than at any time in Guyana’s history.
The goal of the Ministry of Health is achieve 7,500 active regular donors donating 12,000 units of blood by 2012.
“The tendency of collaborators and donors to take a break in December is in direct conflict with the high demand for blood products in December. Please walk into the National Blood Transfusion Service Center in Georgetown and at hospitals in Regions 2, 3, 6, and 10 to donate blood,” Dr. Ramsammy pleaded.
This is not the first time that the NBTS is experiencing a shortage of blood. Over the past several months, the blood bank had been forced to issue urgent appeals for blood donations.
Recently, NBTS began experiencing a severe shortage of all blood types, especially types B-Positive and B-Negative.

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