MASVINGO — The National Blood Services Zimbabwe (NBSZ) has justified the high cost of donated blood sold to patients, saying the organisation incurs costs during collecting, transporting, processing, storage and tests to ensure its safety.
By Tatenda Chitagu
A unit of blood (250mls) costs $135 at public hospitals and the figure be even higher at private hospitals, who purchase from NBSZ.
Speaking at a NBSZ open day in Masvingo city yesterday, Julias Chirengwa, the organisation’s medical consultant, said the blood, usually donated by school children and those at tertiary institutions, is actually not for sale, but they will be recovering processing costs.
“The blood is not for sale as such as many people would want to believe…its actually for free, but we will be trying to recover costs associated with the processes associated with obtaining that blood.
“Our mobile teams go out to collect blood, and that comes at a cost. We also import kits for packaging and storage of the blood and make tests to ensure that the blood is safe and free from infections. This will make it appear as if it is being sold,” he said. Chirengwa said NBSZ has an arrangement that those who are blood donors and their relatives may be given the blood for free if ill. In other countries, blood donors are paid to do so.
Statistics show that adults, who use 80% of the blood from the blood bank, are the least donors at 20%, while school pupils, who donate 80% of the blood, are the least users (20%).
Men donate more than women.
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Last year, 6 215 units were collected.
