{"id":42893,"date":"2021-07-02T20:42:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T18:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=42893"},"modified":"2021-07-02T18:32:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T16:32:53","slug":"covid-pandemic-prompts-blood-shortage-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/covid-pandemic-prompts-blood-shortage-crisis","title":{"rendered":"Covid Pandemic Prompts Blood Shortage Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Global Press Journal<\/b> – IN FEBRUARY, as Enita Kwaramba\u2019s anemia wracked her with headaches and dizziness, she went to a hospital in Mhondoro, a rural district in western Zimbabwe. She learned she needed two pints of blood.<\/p>\n

The hospital had blood, but not enough for her.<\/p>\n

She got one pint, but \u201cthey reserved the other one for emergencies,\u201d says the 33-year-old single mother. Hospital officials promised to contact her once they received more blood from Harare, the capital. Two weeks later, it still hadn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are told that you have low blood and you go to a hospital for medical care, but the blood supply is not enough, you end up having fears that you might end up dying,\u201d says the tall, slim Kwaramba, her voice frail.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe finds itself struggling with a shortage of blood in large part because the country\u2019s main source of donors \u2014 schools and universities \u2014 had up until recently been closed for months as the government scrambled to arrest the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

The crisis, which potentially impacts thousands of patients who need transfusions, is the latest challenge faced by Zimbabwe\u2019s beleaguered health care system, already burdened by staff shortages, strikes, and a lack of equipment and medication.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe\u2019s blood troubles are far from unique during the coronavirus pandemic. An array of countries \u2014 including India, China, the United States, Turkey, Morocco, Ethiopia and Uganda \u2014 have faced similar struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the lockdowns due to [the continuous] spread of SARS-CoV-2 across the world are putting blood donors\u2019 movement in trouble, a lot of countries are facing shortage of blood reserves at their blood banks for meeting urgent needs,\u201d Dejen Nureye and Eyob Tekalign of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Mizan-Tepi University in Ethiopia, wrote in a 2020 research paper.<\/p>\n

The National Blood Service Zimbabwe (NBSZ) typically has five to seven days\u2019 supply of blood. It recently announced that it had less than a day\u2019s supply.<\/p>\n

Donations in 2020 plunged 40% compared to 2019, and units of blood and blood components dropped 30%, says Ephraim Mubayi, NBSZ\u2019s communications officer.<\/p>\n

Dr. Christopher Pasi, acting chief executive officer for Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, says blood shortages sometimes force doctors to postpone surgeries. \u201cAt times people may not understand the situation and think that they are not being prioritized or someone has been put in their place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In some instances, the lack of blood may end up delaying a procedure so long that a patient\u2019s disease has advanced, Pasi says, which could hurt recovery.<\/p>\n

Varaidzo, a nurse who asked to be identified by her middle name for fear of losing her job, works with children with cancer. Her patients often need blood because cancer \u2014 and treatments such as chemotherapy \u2014 can deplete and harm healthy blood cells.<\/p>\n

\u201cA child or two have died\u201d due to the blood shortage, she says. In addition, \u201cgetting a blood transfusion late sometimes delays the process of healing, and they stay longer in hospital accumulating a phenomenal bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blood banks in Zimbabwe first came into being in the late 1950s. Today, the NBSZ is an independent non-profit with regional offices in major cities, including Mutare, Gweru, Bulawayo, Masvingo and Harare.<\/p>\n

It always has been hard to attract donations from a large number of adults, Mubayi says. But recently, the government gave the NBSZ permission to collect blood in schools and tertiary institutions amid coronavirus restrictions. Donors from these combined groups now contribute more than 70% of the blood bank\u2019s supply.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Health didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Schools reopened in mid-March, and Mubayi says blood supplies have improved in some areas. But Harare still faces shortages because demand is high. He says young people give because the bank holds educational programs and galas promoting blood donation. Students who donate in high school often continue in university.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some people don\u2019t give blood because of health issues. (Someone who is HIV-positive or has hepatitis can\u2019t donate, for example.) Others can\u2019t make time in their schedules, and still others don\u2019t donate for religious reasons.<\/p>\n

Martha Madhuviko, 34, says she has never donated blood. Nor does she plan to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear of the unknown grips me,\u201d says Madhuviko, an informal trader who sells baby clothes. \u201cWhat if I already have low blood levels? Will I not faint if I go to donate?\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, the government began providing a subsidy to allow public and mission hospitals to give patients\u2019 blood for free. Patients at private hospitals have to buy a pint for $120.<\/p>\n

Madhuviko says that\u2019s another reason for her to skip giving blood. \u201cIf I donate today and let\u2019s say my relative is involved in an accident and in need of blood, I still have to buy it, so what\u2019s the reason of donating if I have to buy it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mutsa, who asked not to be fully identified for fear of stigmatization, says that in March her 31-year-old sister lost her baby during a caesarean section delivery. Then her sister needed surgery to clean out her uterus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout blood it was impossible,\u201d Mutsa says. \u201cShe had to endure the excruciating pain until the supply was found.\u201d<\/p>\n

They went to NBSZ, only to discover that the bank gave blood to hospitals, not individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were stuck again,\u201d says the soft-spoken Mutsa.<\/p>\n

Her sister was only able to get blood after two days.<\/p>\n

Mubayi says NBSZ has stepped up publicity campaigns, but he acknowledges: \u201cBlood donation is voluntary, and a matter of conviction of one\u2019s heart. We remain focused on cultivating the culture of giving blood among adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Kwaramba now tackles her anemia with iron tablets and folic acid, and also has turned to herbal remedies, such as boiled blackjack weed and avocado leaves. She says her headaches and dizziness have eased.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mutsa says that before her sister\u2019s travails, she hadn\u2019t given blood in more than a decade. After her recent experience, she plans to start donating again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Global Press Journal – IN FEBRUARY, as Enita Kwaramba\u2019s anemia wracked her with headaches and dizziness, she went to a hospital in Mhondoro, a rural district in western Zimbabwe. She learned she needed two pints of blood. The hospital had blood, but not enough for her. She got one pint, but \u201cthey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,35,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-42893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nCovid Pandemic Prompts Blood Shortage Crisis - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Global Press Journal - IN FEBRUARY, as Enita Kwaramba\u2019s anemia wracked her with headaches and dizziness, she went ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/covid-pandemic-prompts-blood-shortage-crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Covid Pandemic Prompts Blood Shortage Crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Global Press Journal - 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