adminBlood Services Zimbabwe has surpassed the national target for blood collections. It is fact that tens of thousands of pints of blood are needed every day to help the people.
Those requiring surgery need blood; those involved in car accidents need blood; pregnant women giving birth the natural way and those undergoing Caesarean sections need blood and many others in various circumstances.
This is why it is important that the blood bank has adequate stocks at any given time and it is the more reason why people should be encouraged to donate blood.
We know some people will never understand why they have to donate blood until they are involved in a situation requiring blood transfusion.
When such a situation has not confronted them or members of their family, they find giving blood a waste of time but upon reflection of the role blood plays in giving life, they will realise they should even donate more blood than just a few pints.
While the importance of blood to life cannot be wished away we are worried by the cost of blood. The NBSZ has increased the price of blood, a move that has also forced some hospitals to charge exorbitant fees for the blood, beyond the reach of many ordinary people.
Some Government hospitals are charging over US$100 per pint while private institutions are charging as high as US$189 per pint. While we appreciate that it costs NBSZ US$110 to produce a unit of blood, we commiserate with the public who now have to dig deeper into their pockets to buy blood when the need arises.
Hospitals have been forced to increase the price of blood in response to the increase by NBSZ and we believe this will have a negative effect on the health of many people.
They are already burdened with the daily cost of living as it relates to food, accommodation and transport and so for many people to afford blood is quite a big mountain to climb.
To imagine that people donate blood to NBSZ free of charge but when they need it to survive, they now have to pay through their teeth is really mind-boggling.
We believe there should be a way to make blood affordable to the majority of people.
Let those who can afford it buy blood and those living well below the poverty datum line be given blood for free at Government hospitals as is the case with other countries in the region.
As it stands right, many people risk losing their lives in the event their survival requires blood as only a few can afford it.
We cannot let people die because they cannot afford blood but a payment plan can be agreed on where patients are given blood and pay for it over a period of time.
But if the patients can afford it, then nothing stops them from paying cash for the blood.
We urge the NBSZ to look into its pricing model and come up with a price that is reasonably affordable, a price which even when the hospitals pass on the increase to patients, it would still be affordable to the majority of people.
What is important is to preserve life and we cannot do that by making the price of blood prohibitive.
Online Reporter