NHIS invited to absorb the costs of treating blood and blood products

Health News Monday, June 17, 2019

Source: ghanacrusader.com

2019-06-17

Dr. Justina Kordai Ansah, Executive Director of the National Blood Service, called on the National Health Insurance Plan to absorb the cost of treating blood and blood products.

His appeal follows calls from the Ghanaian public, including media rights advocate Ing. Ken Ashigbey to the national authority of health insurance to do the same.

She said that a viable funding agreement should be put in place to replace the current payment of treatment fees by patients or their loved ones.

Dr. Kordai made this appeal in her welcoming address on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day in Accra in 2019, on the theme "Blood donation and universal access to safe blood transfusion". and under the slogan "Safe Blood for All".

Blood transfusion, she said, is an essential intervention in the delivery of health care, as it helps to save thousands of lives each year in both routine and emergency cases.

The national blood supply system, she said, continues to rely heavily on replacement donations from relatives and friends of patients requiring blood transfusions.

In 2018, Ghana's estimated blood requirement was 280,000 units, but total blood draws in the country exceeded just over 169,000 units, of which 37% came from unpaid volunteer donors.

Excessive reliance on family replacement donation, she said, raises serious concerns about the safety of donors and the receipt of blood and blood products in health facilities.

She said, "On the demand side, geographic and financial access to adequate and safe blood and blood products is essential for many people and communities."

"Due to the difficulties encountered for universal access to a secure blood transfusion in Ghana, the National Blood Service is implementing a National Blood Supply Strengthening Program (NBSAP) in order to improve the quality of blood supply. increase access to safe and quality blood services in the country. "

She said the NBSSP's goal was ambitious to increase the proportion of voluntary blood donations, which went from its current low level of 37% to 75% in the short and medium term.

She said the development of the infrastructure of blood transfusion services was at the heart of improving access to a safe blood transfusion, an essential element of the establishment of universal health coverage. .

Dr. Kordai revealed that the National Blood Service had taken steps to turn the blood banks of selected hospitals into regional hospitals into subzonal blood centers to provide safe blood and blood products to others. public and private hospitals located in their catchment areas.

It revealed that given the necessary support from government, ministries and agencies, businesses, religious organizations and civil society, the NBSSP would aim to address the persistent shortage of blood products without compromising safety and quality of blood.