Senegal is far from the WHO ratio which is 10 blood donors per 1000 inhabitants. On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, yesterday Tuesday, June 14, 2022, the National Blood Transfusion Center advocated to fill the gap.
There are not enough blood donors in Senegal. The country has 6 donors per 1000 inhabitants out of a ratio of 10 donors per 1000 inhabitants according to the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO). Thierno Lecompte Seck, president of the association of donors launched the cry of the heart yesterday, on the occasion of the celebration of the world blood donation day.
“We are concerned about the situation of the Cnts (National Blood Transfusion Center) and health banks in public hospitals. Notwithstanding the progression, the number of blood donations which increased from 56,573 in 2011 to 101,804 in 2020 Senegal is at 6 donors per 1000 inhabitants while the WHO standard which requires 10 donors per 1000 inhabitants in the countries to ensure its transfusion safety”, immediately informed Mr. Seck.
According to the president of the donors, one of the causes of this delay is linked to the insufficiency and the remoteness of the blood transfusion institutes which must be close to the populations in order to facilitate movement. This is one of the blocking factors for the populations, especially in the interior of the country. Senegal has a Cnts which is responsible for the technical management of transfusion practice, 24 blood banks distributed unequally in the 14 regions. To this we can add the 4 regional centers and a blood transfusion station under construction.
By listing the difficulties of blood transfusion, Thierno Lecompte Seck maintains that the other handicap of the Cnts is the insufficiency of these financial resources. “While the budget allocated to blood transfusion has increased from 2006 to 2021, blood transfusion must also be surrounded by all the precautions and safety and technical provisions. With the withdrawal of certain strategic international partners, the Cnts is encountering difficulties in carrying out its activities to support blood banks,” the donor said.
112,000 blood donations in 2021 for needs estimated at 170,000
In his opinion, the financing of blood transfusion, which is a challenge, should be included in the Priority/Adjusted and Accelerated Action Plan (Pap2A) to, on the one hand, make up for the lack of blood transfusion infrastructure and, on the other apart from the availability of blood bags. “This is an opportunity to launch an appeal to goodwill and donors to support the construction and equipment of blood transfusion infrastructures in order to contribute to the development of blood transfusion”, formulated Mr. Seck.
Coming to chair the meeting, Alassane Mbengue indicated that “the challenge is great since Senegal collected only 112,000 blood donations in 2021 for needs estimated at 170,000. You can see that the gap is still significant. It must be filled to save as many lives as possible. Consequently, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Social Action invites “public and private organizations to invest in raising awareness and recruiting donors to ensure the blood self-sufficiency of our country”.
(With emedia.sn)
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