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Roundup: Kenya launches initiative to boost blood bank

Xinhua, June 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya's health ministry has launched a new computer application to boost the national blood bank.

Ministry of Health Acting Director of Medical Services (DMS), Jackson Kioko, said the system, dubbed e-Progresa Blood Establishment Computerized System (BECS), is a vein to vein system that interface computer technologies with automated blood screening equipment to generate blood results in real time at the same time boost efficiency.

"We are also encouraging walk-in blood donors to our facilities across the country as a measure of reducing the cost of collecting blood," he said during the celebrations to mark the World Blood Donor Day late on Tuesday.

The system which is being rolled out by the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service (KNBTS) is already in use in six counties and will soon be available in 14 other satellites.

Kioko noted that last year, KNBTS collected a total of 155,000 units of blood representing 39 percent of the national blood requirement which, stands at 400,000 units.

To meet the deficit, Kioko revealed that the KNBTS adopted various strategies including targeting the adult blood donors and scaling up donor education and communication.

About 80 percent of blood donors in Kenya are aged between 16 and 25 years, which has informed the need to rope on older donors.

"We honor and urge all Kenyans to continue donating blood to save lives whenever they called upon to do so," Kioko said.

This year's theme "Blood connects us all" focuses on thanking blood donors and highlights the dimension of "sharing" and "connection" between blood donors and patients with the slogan "Share life, give blood", to draw attention to the roles that voluntary donation systems play in encouraging people to care for one another and promote community cohesion.

Last year the service launched a short message platform dubbed 'Text for Life,' which has progressively helped KNBTS to capture blood donor bio - data and boosted communication with blood donors. Today, the system has 160,000 blood donors.

Kioko also announced that KNBTS Policy would be reviewed to enable the provision of blood to Kenyans within the devolved structures.

"The Health Policy has a legal framework to make KNBTS a semi-autonomous government agency. This move will herald a new era in the government effort to attain blood sufficiency to save lives and improve health outcomes," he said.

Kioko said the country is in dire need of blood stock to ensure health security and response to disasters or terrorist attacks.

"Adequate and reliable supply of safe blood can only be assured by a stable base of regular, voluntary, unpaid blood donors, as the safest group of donors with the lowest prevalence of blood borne infections," Kioko said.

KNTBS Director Margaret Oduor, noted that high school children aged between 16 and 18 years contribute 60 percent of the blood donated in Kenya and challenged the adult donors to take up the cause to enable the service to address the current shortage.

"Most donors are below the age of 25. We are making headway but the whole idea is to interest the adult population to become donors as well," she said. Endit