The Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng has emphasized the need for a blood transfusion policy to regulate blood in the country.
Speaking at the launch of the Africa Society for Blood Transfusion Congress that will be hosted by Uganda next year, the minister noted that although Uganda has several blood transfusion specialists who could play a vital role in supporting the ministry of health to develop policies, they are silent.
“There was an attempt to put it in the tissue transplant bill which will soon be signed into an act, but we saw it could not fit there,” said Aceng.
She also noted that the absence of regulatory documents concerning blood in Uganda makes it difficult to handle issues such as the sale of blood by medical workers, its availability, and safety among different regions of the country.
The minister also identified the need to address the issue of stopping the sale of blood, wastage, and ensuring the availability of safe blood, particularly in hard-to-reach areas like Karamoja and Kisoro.
At the congress, Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune Byabazaire, the Executive Director of UBTS, stated that Uganda would host the 11th blood transfusion congress for the first time. The congress will focus on addressing the challenges facing blood transfusion and sustainability in Africa, as well as regulatory challenges in Uganda.
Meanwhile according to the World Health Organization’s guidelines, a country is considered self-sufficient in safe blood if it collects 1 percent of its population. With Uganda’s population of over 45 million people and a refugee population of 1.6 million, the demand for blood in Uganda stands at an estimated 473,000 units.
