Participants in a blood donation programme (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – In the past, the shortage of blood donors and the
doubtful safety of blood and made it a struggle to meet the demands
for s in medical emergencies and treatment. However, the
situation has largely improved in recent years.
A decade and a half ago, in 2003, the National Institute of and
Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) received a meagre 32,134 units of blood (each unit
350ml), 73 percent of which was from professional blood sellers. The national
rate was roughly the same.
In
addition, screening tests for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV in the blood
used dated technology. Immunological safety in the blood units was virtually
non-existent due to limitations in the machinery and technology and the
prohibitive cost of importing foreign materials.
The
shortage of blood donors and the doubtful safety of blood and blood products
made it a struggle to meet the demands for blood transfusions and blood
products for emergencies and treatment.
New
development
However,
over a period of 12 years, from 2004 to 2015, NIHBT received some 1.5 million
units of blood and produced 2.7 million units of blood products on an
industrial scale.
In
2015 alone, the institute received 252,000 units of blood, eight times higher
than two years before. The most significant change was that nearly all of the
blood received – 98.3 percent – came from voluntary , translating
to a jump of 71.3 percent compared to 2003. In 2016, the amount of blood units
received rose 10.6 percent to 280,765 units.
The
blood received met the demands not only for patients in the cities and big
urban centres, but also for the more remote areas, upland regions, islands and
border regions. Awareness raising campaigns have been a central part of the
success, together with models like “Live Blood Bank” and “Rare
Blood Donors Clubs”, to ensure a sustainable supply of blood donations.
“Had
it not been for the blood donation campaign, my wife wouldn’t have received
enough blood and couldn’t have survived.” said Lau Nhia Cha, a farmer from the
H’Mong ethnic group. His wife was the first patient to receive a successful
blood transfusion in a mountainous district in the northern province of Điện
Biên.
Enhanced
safety measures
Nguyen
Anh Tri, Director of the NIHBT, said the institute has researched and proposed
to the Ministry of Health adopting the Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) technique to
“better detect HIV, HCV, HBV in a shorter time.”
He
said implementation of NAT screening would “open a whole new chapter for blood
transfusions, helping ensure a safe, timely, and sufficient supply.”
Among
the most important technology the institute has recently mastered is the
production, storage and supply of A Vietnamese red blood cell sample panel that
aids in screening tests and identifying abnormal antibodies that attack red
blood cells. The entire process can be done domestically, bringing down costs,
expanding its use to more areas, and helping to ensure the immune safety of
blood used in transfusions.
Paul
Rogers, an expert from the World Health Organisation, two years ago, has lauded
the institute’s “major change in experience and capabilities” and the
effectiveness of its national blood donation programmes.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
