S A Shofiee, Sylhet :
A large number of illegal blood banks are selling unsafe blood and doing a brisk business in the Sylhet City, taking the advantage of lax monitoring by the authorities.
In most cases, people depend on organizations including, Red Crescent, Sandhani, Badhon and many Voluntary Blood Donation Program for safe blood. These organisations functionally work as a medium to collect blood from donors and provide it to the relatives of patients in the need of blood transfusion.
But due to huge demand and in the case of emergency, the relatives of many patients are forced to buy blood from private blood banks. Sources said one of the main sources of blood is the illegal blood banks and the risk of infectious diseases increases if the blood is not properly screened.
According to sources, every blood bank has some professional blood donors, mostly drug addicts. They sell their blood for money to buy drugs.
Collecting those contaminated blood is a profitable business for blood banks. That’s why the majority of the blood banks in the Sylhet City area collect blood from drug addicts and professional donors.
Blood from commercial donors not only spread germs but also lacks essential elements, especially haemoglobin. These blood banks are playing a key role in spreading various infections and diseases.
A male adult can donate blood in every three months while females can donate in every four months. But the professional donors sell their blood several times
a month.
Many illegal blood banks were established next to big hospitals in Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Rikabibazar area in the Sylhet.
The law enforces sometimes conduct drives and seal off illegal blood banks in the Sylhet. But the culprits behind the blood banks resume their business under a different name or in a different place within weeks.
Amina Khatun, a patient admitted to Osmani Medical College and Hospital (SOMCH), needed A (+) blood urgently. Her family members collected two bags of blood from ‘Modern Health Care’ blood bank at Rikabi Bazar area in the City. But a screening of the blood just before the transfusion revealed that those were actually AB (+) blood.
Nazir Hossain Chowdhury, a doctor, said “Most of the blood provided by the private blood banks is unsafe and contaminated with various germs, and infusion. Such blood often turns fatal for the patients.”
A large number of illegal blood banks are selling unsafe blood and doing a brisk business in the Sylhet City, taking the advantage of lax monitoring by the authorities.
In most cases, people depend on organizations including, Red Crescent, Sandhani, Badhon and many Voluntary Blood Donation Program for safe blood. These organisations functionally work as a medium to collect blood from donors and provide it to the relatives of patients in the need of blood transfusion.
But due to huge demand and in the case of emergency, the relatives of many patients are forced to buy blood from private blood banks. Sources said one of the main sources of blood is the illegal blood banks and the risk of infectious diseases increases if the blood is not properly screened.
According to sources, every blood bank has some professional blood donors, mostly drug addicts. They sell their blood for money to buy drugs.
Collecting those contaminated blood is a profitable business for blood banks. That’s why the majority of the blood banks in the Sylhet City area collect blood from drug addicts and professional donors.
Blood from commercial donors not only spread germs but also lacks essential elements, especially haemoglobin. These blood banks are playing a key role in spreading various infections and diseases.
A male adult can donate blood in every three months while females can donate in every four months. But the professional donors sell their blood several times
a month.
Many illegal blood banks were established next to big hospitals in Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Rikabibazar area in the Sylhet.
The law enforces sometimes conduct drives and seal off illegal blood banks in the Sylhet. But the culprits behind the blood banks resume their business under a different name or in a different place within weeks.
Amina Khatun, a patient admitted to Osmani Medical College and Hospital (SOMCH), needed A (+) blood urgently. Her family members collected two bags of blood from ‘Modern Health Care’ blood bank at Rikabi Bazar area in the City. But a screening of the blood just before the transfusion revealed that those were actually AB (+) blood.
Nazir Hossain Chowdhury, a doctor, said “Most of the blood provided by the private blood banks is unsafe and contaminated with various germs, and infusion. Such blood often turns fatal for the patients.”
