In the Inca country, health facilities require around 600,000 units of blood to assist emergencies and medical treatments. Nevertheless, El Comercio informed on Monday that blood banks have about 200,000 units, which is not enough for what the patients need.
Esteban Pacheco, project director of the Cendeit Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), reported that 95% of the blood units are currently replaced (when the patient requires it) and about 20,000 units come from an informal sale that would exceed 2,280,000 soles per year, informed El Comercio.
“The specialist in public health policy issues said that only 5% of the bloodstock is voluntary, which generates a black market of ‘blood donors’”, wrote El Comercio, adding that this practice is risky because these clandestine donors don’t have the necessary health conditions required for this procedure.
Currently, blood donations in Peru work by replacement units. Those that require blood in hospitals need to search for people willing to donate blood voluntarily, as well as campaigns of the Ministry of Health and private organizations, such as donor clubs.
According to Pacheco, this situation is related to infrastructure and management problems of the more than 230 donations centers in Peru, that operate in an isolated manner, according to information from El Comercio.
“Cendeit proposes to connect the different blood banks and manage them in an integrated way by geographic zones, in such a way that the storage capacity is better used and the donation collection campaigns are better planned”, as you can read in the media.
(Source)
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