Towards a sustainable, safe blood system in Kenya

The Kenyan blood system is in a period of uncertainty because of reduced funding. At its peak, the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service would receive up to Sh2 billion per year from international partners, including The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Global Fund, to support the blood programme.

The blood service was able to collect up to 160,000 blood units per year. However, in September this year, this annual funding was stopped. It is important to mention that the funding reduction had started gradually from 2015, when the US government started scaling down funding to the blood service.

Their argument was that for a duration of over 15 years (2000 – 2015), they had supported the blood programme through direct financial, infrastructural, technical and human capacity to the tune of over USD700 million. It was time the government took direct charge and supported its own blood system. Either the government sat on its laurels or assumed that all would be well... because when funding ceased, the government seemed to have been caught off guard.

Experts believe Kenya is heading towards a humongous crisis if the current blood situation continues. This will get worse with the closing of schools, which have traditionally been our source of blood; the rate of blood donation drops by as much as 20 per cent during the school holidays.

These weeks have traditionally been the most challenging for blood supply, and this year’s situation is made worse by the current lack of funding.

Right now, most hospitals in Nairobi barely have just a day’s supply of blood on their shelves to handle the needs of their patients. Zero hospitals have it for more than three days. This blood is from relatives as efforts to procure it from the blood service are futile since the service does not have the capacity to collect adequate blood. Most times they do not have the necessary consumables needed to collect the blood, e.g. blood bags, fuel for vehicles or even the necessary personnel such as drivers to be able to conduct blood drives. It is important to note that the World Health Organisation advocates for regular voluntary blood donors since relative donors are not always the safest source of blood.

The challenge, of course, is that the need for blood is constant. Hospitals never close and the use of blood never stops. Kenyan people everywhere have the right to expect that blood and blood products supplied to them are gathered and provided in a safe, timely and sustainable way. For a patient, a blood transfusion can be matter of life and death.

A blood programme is a serious commitment in terms of financial and human resources. Efforts must be made to ensure that the blood service is sustained through adequate funding. There are efforts to enact a Bill that will ensure a sustainable blood service in the country. This Bill, if it goes through, will ensure an autonomous and responsive blood service that will aim at promoting a safe and sustainable blood system.

Joseph Wangendo is the executive director, Bloodlink Foundation, and Dr Peter Maturi is a haematologist at Kenyatta National Hospital.