ONE of the great achievements of Western Medicine is the process of blood transfusion. Before blood transfusion came to be used as a common medical procedure, millions of people all over the world died from a lack of or loss of blood.

The illnesses from which people die because of lack of or loss of blood are numerous. Most people are acquainted with persons who had been brought to death’s door by loss of blood due to traffic, industrial and other accidents. But there are numerous other ways in which blood transfusion could save lives. There are persons whose blood count could become so low that they could fall into a coma and die except they received blood; in many surgical operations blood is lost and has to be quickly replaced by transfusions; or sometimes, in childbirth, transfusions have to be given to save both mother and child. In Guyana, more than 50 percent of the blood supplied by the Blood Bank is used in maternity cases.

On Friday, June 14, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, the Chief Medical Officer, presided at a function held at Herdmanston House organised by the Ministry of Public Health and the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) to mark International Blood Transfusion Day and also to honour dedicated blood donors. The main speakers on the occasion were Dr Shamdeo Persaud, Dr Pedro Lewis, the Doctor in charge of the National Blood Bank, and two regular contributors to the Bank who recounted their personal stories.

Francine Leitch said she had been afflicted with a rare type of cancer and she needed 12 units of blood before she could undergo her first treatment of chemotherapy. She was considered in a terminal condition. She, fortunately, was able to receive the 12 units from the Blood Bank and underwent her first treatment. She required a further two units to be able to continue her treatment and this was supplied by the Blood Bank in a timely manner. Her treatment was successful and she attributes her survival to the Blood Bank. She now realises the importance of donating and has become a regular donor. to the Blood Bank.
Angelica Holder then told her story of how she became a life-long and regular blood donor. As a child, she saw her father bitten by a labaria snake whose venom was haemotoxic which prevented his blood from coagulating. He was beginning to bleed to death when blood transfusions saved his life. From that time, Angelica and her family have become regular blood donors.

Dr Shamdeo Persaud said that at the moment there are approximately 10,000 voluntary blood donors – a figurewhich is barely adequate and these are from the coastal areas but that collection is now being extended to the Interior Regions. Likewise, blood transfusion services have been extended to Bartica, Mabaruma, Lethem, Mahaicony, Fort Wellington and the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.

Dr Pedro Lewis, Director of the NBTS, said that there would soon be established a “Trauma Centre” at the Georgetown Public Hospital which would absorb the Accident and Emergency Department and which, from its nature, would require an increased and constant supply of blood. He estimates the Blood Bank would need between 30,000 to 35,000 donors which he estimates to be five percent of the country’s population.

So far, the actual collection of blood is centralised at the Blood Bank at the Georgetown Public Hospital and this is done so that the safety of the blood in all its facets is ensured. Each time blood is donated, the NBTS checks the blood using 11 tests or “markers” to ensure that the blood is safe from any diseases and is 100 percent healthy. It should be noted that in the first place if anyone suffers from any disease, that person is not accepted as a blood donor.

In the developed countries, large numbers of blood donors are found among young people at the universities and tertiary educational institutions and this is a culture which Guyana could usefully adopt since it would secure blood availability.

Finally, we would like to emphasise that the myth that blood donation weakens the body and opens it to disease needs to be eradicated since it has inhibited the less educated from becoming blood donors. Actually, the pint of blood donated is restored by the body with new blood in six weeks and this renewal of blood makes the body healthier. Regular blood donors are invariably people who are always in good health. Donating blood to the Blood Bank is a win/win exercise – it helps to make the donor healthier and at the same time saves lives, sometimes as much as three lives with one donation since 525 millilitres can actually help three persons.