Rwanda’s National Centre for Blood Transfusion says the blood bank has sufficient stock after donation resumed in some parts of the country.

According to a mini-survey by Rwanda Today done remotely in 10 hospitals out of 71 that get blood supply from NCBT found that the facilities had enough stock of blood and were satisfied served at above 95 per cent.

The survey further found that the increase in the blood pints at National Centre for Blood Transfusion has been made possible after lockdown eased, which made it possible for blood collectors to access collection centres.

Health experts from district hospitals told Rwanda Today that during the total lockdown period they were struggling to meet blood demands on time because the national blood bank was facing a shortage.

“Since May, we have been getting blood demands on time and to date, there hasn’t been any difficulty in accessing blood like in March and April when the whole country was under confinement,” said Dr Marcel Uwizeye director-general of Masaka Hospital.

“During the lockdown, things had started worsening where getting blood was quite difficult because they did not have enough, but now we are satisfied with the current supply,” he says.
O¬ cials from NCBT they can now supply blood sometimes at 97 per cent depending on demand for blood from hospitals.

“Though we were not able to access blood collection centres and donors, we noticed accidents reduced during the lockdown and this helped to save blood which has pushed us in times it was had to access donors,” said Dr Katare Swaibu, division manager at Rwanda’s National Centre for Blood Transfusion.

Dr Katare added that though they have faced a serious shortage of blood in over two months, they observed an overwhelming lowering in blood demands from hospitals which also helped them retain some blood in the bank.

“We are not yet able to access all the blood collection sites like at churches, universities & high schools are restricted and some parts of the country are still in the lockdown but at least now there is no shortage like we had last two-three months,” said Dr Katare.