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NICARAGUA: Building Solidarity Through Blood
Donations
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA (IPS) - The Nicaraguan Red
Cross is conducting an awareness-raising
campaign to increase voluntary blood
donations and meet hospital demand, in order
to compensate for changes in blood
collection practices and address a severe
health crisis caused by outbreaks of dengue
fever, pneumonia and H1N1 influenza.
According to the director of the Red Cross
National Blood Centre, René Berríos, blood
reserves began to wane in July following
changes in blood collection practices. Under
the old system, in place since the 1970s,
patients undergoing surgery or in need of
transfusions were required to have relatives
donate a certain amount of blood.
The family members who donated blood would
be given vouchers by the Red Cross, to be
presented at the hospital on behalf of the
patient.
But the new arrangement between the Red
Cross and the health ministry ended this
practice, because it was found to promote
blood trafficking, as poor people would
offer themselves as "donors" to wealthier
families in exchange for money, said the
national head of the Voluntary Blood
Donation Drive, Johely López.
"With the new policy that calls for
voluntary donors we’re not only eliminating
the voucher system, so that anyone can have
free access to the blood transfusions they
need, but we are also fostering social
solidarity by encouraging people to donate,"
López told IPS.
"Now the hospital has to cover its patients’
blood needs and nobody can be required to
give blood in exchange for blood," he added.
But eliminating the old system created a new
problem: shortages.
In order to address national health
emergencies, the country needs to have a
minimum reserve of 1,300 units of packed red
blood cells, which is one of the two
components (along with serum) separated from
donated blood in a centrifuge and stored for
use in transfusions.
Berríos explained that for this volume to be
available, at least two percent of the
country’s population of 5.7 million would
need to be regular blood donors.
Potential donors must be between the ages of
17 and 65, weigh more than 50 kilos, and be
physically healthy and in full possession of
their faculties.
Approximately half a litre of blood is drawn
from each donor, depending on their weight
and age.
López explained that all blood donated is
screened for quality and for HIV and other
diseases.
The blood is then processed in laboratories
and separated into four products -
platelets, red blood cells, fresh frozen
plasma, and a special liquid used for the
treatment of anaemia and other protein
deficiencies in patients suffering from
haemophilia, malnutrition and cancer.
Demand in Nicaragua is estimated at 60,000
to 70,000 pouches a year, with a projected
annual growth of two to five percent.
But when unforeseen emergency situations
occur the average demand goes up, which is
when special blood drives are needed to
replenish stocks, López said.
Of the 75,000 units of blood required this
year, some 45,000 had been obtained as of
September, after stored donations had
dropped below 30,000 in July.
The blood bank reserves for addressing a
nationwide emergency fell from 1,000 units
to less than 200.
This critical situation prompted a huge
awareness-raising campaign called the
"Caravan for Life", which travelled
throughout the country in the months of
August and September to encourage young
people to become regular blood donors,
donating at least twice a year.
"With the elimination of replacement or
voucher system donors, we need voluntary
donors more than ever, so we are calling on
young people to support the campaign,
appealing to their solidarity," López told
IPS.
Nicaragua currently has five blood banks
that supply more than 50 hospitals and
public health centres throughout the
country.
The Red Cross has been providing blood
collection and supply services in Nicaragua
for 32 years, and its blood bank in Managua
is the largest centre for blood drawing and
processing in Central America.
The Red Cross is carrying out the campaign
with the support of the Adventist church and
health ministry personnel.
Berríos explained to IPS that a minimum of
6,000 active donors are required per month
to maintain a useful blood supply, which is
why the drive is targeting young people, who
are in conditions to give blood twice a
year.
Alexander Mendieta, 17, told IPS that he was
motivated by the Adventist church’s call to
give blood. "Half a litre of my blood can
save four people, they say. So this year I’m
going to save eight," he said.
But not only the young are responding to the
call. In August, Julio César Solórzano, 56,
became the first Nicaraguan to reach 100
donations.
"I never imagined that I could save so many
lives just by giving a little of what my
body produces," Solórzano told IPS, in
between the talks he gives to encourage
Managua university students to join the
blood effort.
Solórzano is one of the voluntary
campaigners recruited by the Red Cross to
attract young donors.
According to Red Cross estimates, in 2008
there were 29,000 voucher system donors
(non-voluntary) and 31,000 voluntary donors.
That means that 29,000 new voluntary donors
are needed this year. As of August, the
number of additional donors stood at 10,000.
The National Blood Centre currently covers
80 percent of hospital demand, but more
donors are required to address the country’s
critical health situation, and plans are
underway for a new massive blood drive to be
held before the end of the year.
Nicaragua is facing a health crisis
generated by dengue, pneumonia and A/H1N1
influenza epidemics, which according to
health ministry data have affected a
combined total of over 20,000 people since
the second quarter of 2009. |
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