Shah Alam Nur :A good number of illegal blood banks are operating in the capital taking advantage of lax monitoring by the authorities and lack of enforcement of law.According to blood transfusion experts, one of the main sources of blood is the illegal blood banks and the risk of infectious diseases increase if blood is not properly screened.Many illegal blood banks in Old Dhaka, Mohammadpur and Shyamoli areas are run by gangs comprising two or three nurses and assistants who work at different hospitals, it was alleged.These illegal blood banks collect blood from drug addicts and poor people who sell blood on a regular basis, and store it carelessly in unhygienic conditions. When any patient urgently needs blood, they made secret offer.On government’s papers, there are only 290 licensed blood transfusion centres (BTCs) in the country. But unofficial data shows that the number of unlicensed BTCs is not less than 1,500.The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is the licensing authority but it has no monitoring responsibilities. In fact, there is no designated authority for making sure that nobody provides blood-related services without proper licenses.Taking advantage of this loophole, thousands of blood transfusion centres are providing unsolicited services to millions of patients.Experts said, in most cases, the emergency patients become victims as most often blood have to be managed for them in the shortest of notices.At present, out of the 800,000 bags of blood required in the country every year, only half comes from licensed blood banks, sources said.The Society for Safe Blood Transfusion estimates that over 80 per cent of the blood transfusions are unsafe as they remain unscreened.According to the Safe Blood Transfusion Act 2002, all blood and blood products must be tested for five transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, syphilis, malaria and HIV. The act also says that a blood bank must recruit doctors, nurses and technicians to conduct the tests.”Patients come to us when there is an emergency. They do not bother about screening,” Abdur Rahman, an employee of one such blood centre in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area told The New Nation on Tuesday.He said all the blood transfusion centres in that area don’t have proper equipment for running the blood tests.”It is very alarming that a large number of unregulated blood banks, including many in private hospitals and clinics, are delivering blood to patients without proper screening, posing serious health risks to patients,” Prof Dr Ashadul Islam from the Transfusion Department of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said.He said most of the unregulated blood banks hire a house close to public hospitals and start operating the business from there. Meanwhile, Mohammed Nasim, Minister for Health and Family Welfare said the government is planning to set up a National Blood Centre (NBC) at Mohakhali in the city.”We are very serious about blood banks as we are continuing action against those who do not have proper blood storing facilities or instruments,” he said. Nasim said the government has allocated Tk 80 million for building the NBC and it will monitor the blood banks and impart necessary training on related officials.
