Improving blood availability in a district hospital, Bo, Sierra Leone

Sengeh, Paul; Samai, O; Sidique, S.K; Kebbie, Atiba; Fofana, P; Stephens, Sheila

doi:10.1016/s0020-7292(97)00157-4

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…4 Each hospital recruits donors for its own patients and processes the blood for local transfusion. These hospitals often handle less than 1,000 units a year [5][6][7] and experience difficulties in standardization, quality assurance and in maintaining supplies of high quality reagents. Recruiting voluntary donors from the community is complex and expensive and depends on regular education programs, venesection teams, vehicles and cold storage.…”

Section: Organization Of Transfusion Services In Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood Transfusion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Allain

Owusu‐Ofori

Bates

2004

Transfus Alt Transfus Med

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SUMMARY The population of Sub‐Saharan Africa has an average annual income of $400–1000 and cannot afford blood produced according to the standards established by affluent countries. To prepare enough safe blood in a sustainable fashion, African countries need to optimize use of their own resources and develop ways to produce affordable safe blood appropriate to their own situations. Uncritical adoption of external advice and models, particularly those from more wealthy countries, may lead to problems of sustainability unless they are adapted for use in resource‐poor environments. Sub‐Saharan African countries have developed a variety of systems to achieve the objective of producing safe blood. These vary from centralized, high volume, modern blood centers to locally organized donor programs for isolated district health care facilities. The wide range of systems to recruit, select and retain blood donors and of availability of choice of reagents and equipment to screen blood allows flexibility so that the transfusion process can be adapted to local circumstances and resources. With variations in the prevalence rate of HIV, HBV and HCV, the cumulative prevalence is invariably high in Africa and therefore, test sensitivity is critical. Nucleic acid testing is highly sensitive but is not affordable. New inexpensive and effective testing technology as well as pathogen inactivation techniques directed towards the needs of developing countries should become a major target of external support.

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Section: Organization Of Transfusion Services In Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood Transfusion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Allain

Owusu‐Ofori

Bates

2004

Transfus Alt Transfus Med

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“…Few studies have reported on the quality and capacity of blood transfusion services in sub‐Saharan Africa [4, 19–21]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for day to day data collection from blood transfusion units to improve the transfusion services at the facility level and to ensure accurate national and regional data [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of blood transfusion services at a district hospital in Malawi

et al. 2012

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In contrast to the advanced transfusion medicine in developed nations, our findings highlight the persistent and urgent need for life-saving blood transfusions in especially young children and pregnant women in Africa. The results indicate that blood transfusion services adapted to local conditions may be a realistic solution for providing safe blood products in developing countries. Serious challenges, such as HIV transmission and sustainable organization of low-risk blood donations should be addressed to assure access to safe blood products.

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“…In traditional societies in sub‐Saharan Africa, blood may be associated with taboos [11]. Negative attitudes towards blood donation for transfusion are also recognized and these include anxieties concerning the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [12–15]. Concerns have been expressed about blood sampling for research purposes in a coastal community in Kenya [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The acceptability to women in Mombasa, Kenya, of the donation and transfusion of umbilical cord blood for severe anaemia in young children

Hassall

Ngina

Kongo³

et al. 2007

Vox Sanguinis

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Background and Objectives Severe anaemia, for which a blood transfusion can be life saving, is common in hospitalized children in sub-Saharan Africa but blood for transfusion is often in short supply. Umbilical cord blood is usually thrown away but could be a useful source of red cells for small volume transfusions in young children in this setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of women using the maternity services of the provincial hospital in Mombasa, Kenya, towards cord blood donation and transfusion, and essential aspects of this process including informed consent and the acceptability of screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Materials and MethodsA structured questionnaire was developed based on data provided by focus group discussions with women attending the hospital's maternity unit and administered to women who had recently delivered at the hospital. ResultsOf the 180 women who completed a questionnaire, the donation and transfusion of cord blood were acceptable to 81% and 78%, respectively. Ninety per cent of women who supported cord blood donation were willing to undergo further HIV testing at the time of delivery. Seventy-seven per cent of women wanted informed consent to be sought for cord blood donation and 66% of these felt they could make this decision alone. ConclusionThe donation of umbilical cord blood and its transfusion are acceptable to the majority of women delivering at Coast Provincial General Hospital, Mombasa. Findings from the study will benefit the planned cord blood donation programme at this facility.

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Improving blood availability in a district hospital, Bo, Sierra Leone

Abstract: Even in settings with irregular electrical supply, storage of small quantities of blood is possible. Ready availability of blood may contribute to improved quality of obstetric care and improved survival among patients.

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Blood Transfusion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Blood Transfusion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

A study of blood transfusion services at a district hospital in Malawi

The acceptability to women in Mombasa, Kenya, of the donation and transfusion of umbilical cord blood for severe anaemia in young children

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