Zamfara state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has decried the administration of unscreened blood to patients in the state. Secretary of the association, Mannir Bature, made the condemnation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Gusau yesterday. He said: “Th e association is disturbed over the increasing complaints of patients dying in hospitals and clinics across the state.
“We followed it up by taking a tour of health facilities in the state and discovered that a large percentage of the people who lost their lives were those who underwent blood transfusion.” Bature attributed the problem to unqualifi ed medical personnel performing blood transfusion when they were not supposed to do so. “Some health workers never waited to confi rm whether or not the patients required blood before transfusing them. “Since there are inadequate blood screening equipment in many health facilities, some patients were either given the wrong blood type or blood that was infected with diseases.” Bature urged the state government to provide at least one blood screening centre in each of the three senatorial districts in the state. According to him, at the moment, only the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, the Federal Medical Centre in Gusau and the MSF Hospital in Anka have blood screening facilities. He also recommended that qualifi ed personnel should lead the team of personnel screening blood so that the basic checks of HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and Malaria would be conducted on all blood brought into hospitals. Bature said the NMA would also ensure that blood cross match and save many lives in the state. Th e NMA secretary said the association had already alerted the state government on the issue and made recommendations on how to stop the unethical trend.
