Vihiga blood banks dry up, again

Felix Munyora vividly recalls the trouble his family went through when two of his relatives needed a blood transfusion to save their lives.

The vital commodity was lacking at Vihiga County Referral Hospital, the main health facility in the devolved unit.

One of the patients, Mr Munyora’s aunt, was lucky to get blood donated by a relative.

The second patient, his cousin, had to wait longer for the hospital to work with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga hospital in Kisumu so as to get blood.

When the county referral hospital held a blood donation drive in June, Mr Munyora trekked from his Matsigulu home to take part.

He was the first in the queue to donate blood on a day that coincided with World Blood Donor Day.

Blood donation drive 

The Vihiga County government marked the day with a weeklong blood donation drive in a spirited bid to plug the blood hole, coming weeks after it opened its five-bed ICU in addition to the existing dialysis unit and several operational theatres.

The push is aimed at taming the glaring shortage and boost emergency treatment.

The blood drive happened as officials rushed against time to equip the blood centre at the county referral hospital in Mbale town.

The health department says the referral hospital alone requires 1,200 pints of blood annually for emergency treatment.

Mr Munyora, recalling the struggle and the long wait for blood by his then-ailing cousin, says had he been critically ill, the delay in transfusion might have been fatal.

He notes that the pain of waiting a long time for a blood transfusion is the agony most patients go through as they seek emergency treatment.

"I do not want any other person to go through the pain my two relatives went through as they waited for blood transfusions," Mr Munyora says.

He adds: "There is a need for readily available blood at the referral hospital so that patients get timely transfusion."

Life saving blood 

Chief officers in the health Department – Arnold Mamadi (Medical Services) and Mary Anyienda (Public Health) - led in the donation drive, with each donating one pint of blood.

Dr Mamadi said the move was meant to save the lives of people who need emergency treatment every year.

The officials said they are seeking to attain the 1,200 pints of blood needed to boost emergency health services in the county every year.

Dr Mamadi said this will enable patients to have access to safe and sufficient blood as well as blood products in a reduced turnaround time.

The officials said regular blood donation would ensure adequate supply in their blood bank and tame the recurrent acute shortage that forces the devolved unit to rely on Kisumu for the vital commodity.

Said Dr Mamadi: "Blood is key in heartbeats and so it is vital to give blood so as to keep someone's heart beating.”

"The need for 1,200 pints of blood can be attained through donations. One pint of blood can save three or four patients. We are in dire need of blood."

He said the process of donating blood is not painful and takes a maximum of eight minutes.

"We are setting up a blood transfusion centre which we intend to equip to enable us to produce blood products," Dr Mamadi said.

Mrs Anyienda noted that donated blood is key in saving the lives of mothers who undergo surgery and those who suffer severe bleeding during and after childbirth.

New blood bank 

To boost the efforts, the devolved unit has set up a Sh9 million blood bank and transfusion centre that is awaiting to be launched.

Once it starts running, it is expected to offer relief to hundreds of patients who seek the vital commodity and emergency treatment as well as address the shortage.

The centre can store up to 2,400 pints of blood and when launched, it will help reduce the turnaround time for patients who wait longer for blood to be brought in from Kisumu and Kakamega counties.

Officials say the centre will undertake regular blood donation drives, screening and storage for use by hospitals in the county.

"The centre will store blood and blood products and will be handy in screening blood," Dr Mamadi says.

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