Patients could start paying for blood

Jul 12, 2012

Public universities may cease to access free blood from regional blood banks and pay for it if a proposal by Uganda Blood Transfusion Service to sell blood is adopted by Gov't

By Henry Sekanjako

Public hospitals countrywide may cease to access free blood from regional blood banks and pay for it if a proposal by the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service (UBTS) to sell blood to such hospitals is adopted by government.

According to the director of UBTS, Dorothy Kyeyune under their new strategic plan, they want government to change a policy for accessing free blood by hospitals and ensure that all hospitals pay for the units of blood collected from the blood banks.

“There should be a cost recovery through the health insurance scheme for the blood issued. Funding is not enough so if we could generate income from these units of blood maybe we could be able to operate efficiently,” said Kyeyune.

Kyeyune who was in the company of her technical officials, made the remarks Wednesday before  the parliament’s committee on public accounts to answer queries raised by the auditor general for the year ended June 30, 2010.

Her remarks were prompted by the committee members who questioned her whether there were any plans by the national blood bank to consider selling blood to hospitals to ensure enough funds for the blood bank.

“You are not being financed with sufficient resources, should blood be free, if water is not free? In hospitals blood should not be free, government should pay,” said Eddy Kwezira (MP Bufumbira East) who is also the committee‘s lead counsel.

Kyeyune noted that they were facing budget constraints which have made it hard for them to collect blood due to lack of enough funds to employ adequate staff members.

“It is very hard to convince Ugandans to donate blood for free. In Uganda it is something for something; they ask us, when I give blood what are you going to give me?” she explained.

According to Kyeyune, UBTS collects over 25000 units of blood monthly.

Kyeyune said in changing the policy by government, they will be able to do cost recovery through the health insurance scheme.

UBTS demanded for increased funding from the current sh3.12 billion to sh13.5 billon to be able to fund its activities such as expansion of blood transfusion infrastructure, promotion of appropriate clinical use of blood in hospitals, to mention but a few.

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