The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has raised alarm over the worrisome practice of transfusion of unscreened blood to patients in the country. The secretary of the Association, Zamfara Chapter, Dr. Mannir Bature raised the concern on Wednesday during an interview with newsmen in Gasau.
According to him, “The association is disturbed over the increasing complaints of patients dying in hospitals and clinics across the country. We followed it up by taking a tour of health facilities in the state and discovered that a large percentage of the people who lost their lives were those who underwent blood transfusion.”
The Association blamed the development on proliferation of healthcare facilities as well as increase in unqualified medical personnel performing blood transfusion when they were not supposed to do so.
“Some health workers never waited to confirm whether or not the patients required blood before transfusing them. Since there are inadequate blood screening equipment in many health facilities, some patients were either given the wrong blood type or blood that was infected with diseases” he added.
He maintained the attention of Ministry of Health has been drawn to the issue and relevant recommendations have also been forwarded for urgent implementation.
