Globally, it is recognised that for a healthcare delivery system to be effective, it must be supported by a robust supply of safe blood units that can be swiftly mobilised and transfused to patients in need of this lifesaving resource. Some examples of health conditions where safe blood is required to save lives include road traffic accidents, trauma following disasters and acts of terror and conflict, bleeding during pregnancy and childbirth, and under-five children with anaemic heart failure from severe malaria and sickle cell disease. For these Nigerians, the prompt administration of a blood unit makes the difference between life and an avoidable death.
For Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, maternal mortality has remained an enormous challenge and progress towards drastically reducing the number of maternal deaths in the country has been slow despite strategies such as the promotion of deliveries in health facilities, in addition to the training and deployment of skilled health workers to underserved areas, especially at the grassroots. For these reasons, Nigeria contributes nearly one-quarter of all maternal deaths around the world.
Research into the causes of the high maternal mortality in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa have noted the huge contribution of blood transfusion services that are not adequately mandated and empowered to ensure the safety of blood and derived products across health facilities nationwide as a critical factor.
The country’s population has a high prevalence of infections that can be transmitted via blood transfusion with a negative impact on the safety of blood for transfusion. The World Health Organization (WHO) supported by blood transfusion research findings has continued to emphasise the need for blood to be sourced from voluntary, unpaid blood donors, as this greatly reduces the risk of infection and transmission of infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis. However, voluntary donations of blood continue to pale in comparison to commercial blood donations given in exchange for a fee.
Unfortunately, high-risk sexual behaviours and experimentation are predominant among commercial blood donors, heightening the risk of transfer of infections to unsuspecting patients during the transfusion of blood that has not been adequately screened. The situation, therefore, poses huge challenges to the country’s efforts toward attaining blood transfusion safety.
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