At a time when patients in the Dadeldhura, Baitadi, Bajhang, Darchula, Bajura, and Achham districts of the Sudurpashchim province of Nepal have been facing difficulties receiving blood supplies during emergencies due to the inappropriate management of the blood bank, on January 6 the Government of Japan signed an agreement with the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) to install equipment at the Dadeldhura Blood Bank. Hospitals in these districts lack essential resources including a physical infrastructure such as Intensive Care Units and qualified human resources.
Yoshioka Yuzo, the Charge d’Affaires a.i. of Japan to Nepal, and Madan Raj Chataut, President of the NRCS, Dadeldhura District Chapter, signed the grant agreement for the installation of equipment at the Dadeldhura Blood Bank.
The support is provided under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of the Japanese Government and involves a grant of USD56,364. The project will support the provision of medical equipment including refrigerators, a component preparation set, an automated blood grouping machine, microscope, micropipette, electric balance, incubator, needle destroyers, deep freezer, and an uninterrupted power supply.
At the online grant signing ceremony, Yuzo commented, “This assistance will contribute towards enhancing better hospital services for people needing safe blood for treatment.” It would also contribute towards improving medical services for all patients in the district, he added.
- In 1991, the government of Nepal mandated NRCS as the sole authority to manage blood programs across the country.
- The Blood Bank at NRCS, Dadeldhura Chapter was established in 2014 with financial support from the Government of India.
- According to NRCS, there are currently 21 district level blood banks, with emergency units in 17, and 25 hospital units with the services across the country.
- The Kathmandu-based Central Blood Transfusion Service serves as the only referral center for the whole country.
- While the Central Blood Transfusion Service Center (BTSC) serves the blood transfusion needs of the people in Kathmandu Valley, it also provides technical and other support to blood service centers across the country.
- The district BTSCs are managed by NRCS district chapters complying with guidelines provided under the 1983 NRCS regulations and the 1998 Standard Operating Procedures.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown imposed across the country last March that was subsequently lifted in July, the blood donation drive was halted resulting in a shortage of blood supplies. Furthermore, blood transfusion centers face a shortage of blood as donors were unable to give blood due to the restrictions imposed by the lockdown.
Established in 1967, the NRCS Dadeldhura District Chapter has been providing blood transfusion services at the recommendation of authorized doctors from the district hospital and other polyclinics. It also has an ambulance service and has been engaged in promoting hygiene and sanitation and offering humanitarian assistance. However, this blood bank has failed to provide immediate and effective services to those in need including pregnant women undergoing caesarian surgery merely due to inadequate infrastructure and the lack of resources.
It is expected that the support provided by Japan will be instrumental in properly managing the blood bank in the Dadeldhura district consequently enabling blood supplies to be available to those in need during medical emergencies.
