| With a collection of 2,000 units already for this year, the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) seems to be poised to fulfill an ambitious target of 10,000 units by the end of this year.Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, at a recent press briefing, said that the intent is to lift the amount of blood collected which means upping the collection rate to at least 2,500 units per quarter.“We are about 500 units short. We are on target to collect 8,000 units this year but we need to accelerate the collection efforts,” Minister Ramsammy said.He nevertheless congratulated the NBTS for its continued efforts to mobilise the Guyanese people, adding that 8,000 units is in fact not a trivial accomplishment in light of the fact that less than a decade ago the public health sector was collecting less than 2,500 units of blood.The Minister underscored that efforts have been made over the years to increase the collection to close to four times, which he regarded as an excellent performance.Of equal importance is the fact that 79 per cent of blood already collected this year has been from voluntary donors, which according to the Minister is a major accomplishment since it far exceeds anything being done in any other Caricom country with the exception of Suriname.“Every other country is way, way below that voluntary donor rate that Guyana has been able to achieve and it is a far cry from what it was a decade ago when it was just eight to 10 percent.”Minister Ramsammy cautioned, though, that in order to meet the needs of the citizenry at the level of the services provided today, both in the public and private health sectors, it is absolutely necessary that 12,000 units of blood is acquired.The Minister noted that “even if we succeed in collecting the 10,000 units we will still not have met the absolute requirement for blood in Guyana.”It is imperative that the public becomes aware of the urgent need for blood, adding that it is likely that by the time 2012 comes, when the goal is to have the 12, 000 units, that the target may not be enough, he added.He underscored that as the health care services improve, the requirement for blood also increases which could create a situation whereby an amount of 20,000 component units maybe required by 2012.He explained that a single unit of blood could in fact be converted into three different components, a capacity Guyana did not have in the past. Last year’s collection of 7,Nike Air Force 1 Saldi,800 units permitted the health sector to obtain just about 10,000 components thus allowing just over 10,000 people to benefit.He added that if 12,000 units are collected today then potentially 36,000 components can be realised. However, he cautioned that not every unit of blood can be converted into components since doctors sometimes may require the use of whole blood. Converting of blood is also dependent on the collection mode, Minister Ramsammy said.“If we are collecting blood in Region Six or Three or Two it may not be possible for us to convert that blood into components because there is a time requirement so for example to get platelets we would need to begin the process of component separation within five hours of collection so that it may not be possible for us to do that.”In the meantime though, Minister Ramsammy noted that it is expected that by collecting 10,000 to 12,000 units of blood, the health sector will be able to meet its requirement. “If we could have bought it we would have done so but we can’t buy blood…it has to come from people as a gift. It is a voluntary donation and people need to give it to us.” |
