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PNG hospitals in short supply of blood

Xinhua, June 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hospitals in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are in short supply of blood, the PNG National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has said.

NBTS manager Dr. Merrilyn Mathias said World Health Organization (WHO) calculations suggest PNG requires 120,000 units of blood per year.

"But every year the blood bank, or the NBTS, collects only about 30,000 units...so that's a big, big problem," Mathias told local media.

University of Papua New Guinea lecturer Dr Arnold Waine said 10 to 15 percent of surgical operations on patients are regularly cancelled because of the lack of blood supply.

"It's a very big issue not only for Port Moresby General Hospital but the whole country," Waine said. Endi