Blood transfusion at selected clinics

SELECTED council medical health facilities in the two metropolitans — Harare and Bulawayo — have been approved to offer free blood to patients following an extension of the Government subsidy that previously covered State-run hospitals only.

Patients requiring blood or blood products have been accessing the fluid free of charge in public hospitals since July 2018 when Government wholly subsidised all costs associated with transfusion .

Since commencement of the doctors’ strike last September, all services in Government hospitals have been slow, compelling the National Blood Service Zimbabwe to avail blood to some city health institutions, where it could be utilised.

Donated blood has a shelf-life of about 42 days, under controlled storage condition.

In order to sustain demand, without wastage, the NBSZ maintains a five-day stock of healthy blood at any given time.

NBSZ head of planning and recruitment Mr Tichaona Saira told The Sunday Mail that at the peak of the doctors’ strike, the organisation was forced to space-out blood drives and collections to avoid collecting more blood than can be utilised.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the youth donor-month blood drive in Marondera recently.

“Private hospitals and mission hospitals have been very busy when public hospitals were not functioning properly so there was need to fill the gap. Government has ensured that Harare and Bulawayo city councils now also do blood transfusions.