Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Health office set to close commercial blood banks
THE Department of Health (DOH) is now preparing to shut down commercial blood banks nationwide.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he already instructed the Bureau of Health Services (BHS) to implement the order of the Supreme Court (SC), which denied a motion filed by the Association of Blood Bank (ABB) to allow them to continue operating.
"This would ensure that safe and quality blood would now be made available to the public once commercial blood banks are closed," Duque said.
The SC had ordered the health department to close commercial banks within two years. The high court ruled on the constitutionality of the National Blood Services Act of 1994, which sought to provide adequate supply of safe blood by promoting voluntary blood donation and regulating blood banks.
Duque assured that the closure of commercial blood banks would not have any effect on the supply of blood in the country.
BHS head Chris Abesamis said they would meet with the Philippine Blood Coordinating Center (PBCC) soon on how to carry out the closure commercial blood banks and outlets.
Abesamis said so far there are still nine commercial blood banks operating in Metro Manila and four in the Visayas.
Like Duque, Dr. Raymund Lo, an official of PBCC and assistant director of the Institute of Pathology at the Saint Luke's Medical Center, said blood supplies would not be affected with the impending closures of commercial blood banks.
"We are preparing to cover for the eventuality of blood bank closures and augment the shortage in the supplies," Lo said.
He also said they have already set up a plan to ensure that blood supplies are safe and that blood surplus from their sub-national and regional centers would also be distributed to hospitals that lack blood supplies.
Meanwhile, Duque said they are targeting 800,000 people as "regular voluntary donors". At present, blood donors number around 500,000 yearly.
He also said that in order to ensure that the donated blood is safe, they have centralized the blood testing and component processing in blood centers in the country like the Philippine Children Medical Center, Bicol Blood Center in Legaspi City, the Region 7 Blood Center in the Visayas region, and Davao Blood Center in Midanao.
PBCC president Elizabeth Nuqui said the government does not encourage blood replacement, particularly by those of relatives of the patient, because the probability that their blood is unsafe is here.
She said unless the donor maintained a healthy lifestyle, there is no guarantee that a blood donor is safe from any active infections. "We discourage replacement because there is always an element of coercion and pressure and the risk here is three times higher than getting the blood voluntarily," she said.
Nuqui said commercially sourced bloods are unsafe and the potential spread of diseases such as malaria, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids), Hepatitis B, and syphilis through transfusion of blood purchased from commercial outlets is unavoidable. (MSN/Sunnex)
(June 14, 2006 issue)
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