Memorandum on the Proposed Bill for an Act to Establish National Blood Service Commission to Coordinate, Regulate and Ensure the Provision of Quality Blood and Blood Products and Related Matters (HB. 181) in Nigeria.

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges associated with blood transfusion service delivery in Nigeria is accessing safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products. Effective blood transfusion is the right blood, transfused in the right quantity, quality, right condition, at the right time for the right clinical indication. The collection, manufacturing and distribution of blood products and its products are facilitated by Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) with responsibilities of a qualified trained Medical Laboratory Scientists, competent nurses and medical staffs for effective co-ordination of the Transfusion establishment.
Blood transfusion is an essential component of effective healthcare delivery and has life saving potential. Timely access to the right quantity and quality of blood and blood products is a life saving measure in most clinical conditions. Every second somebody in Nigeria desperately need blood and blood products for surgery, trauma, nutritional anaemia, anaemia of chronic disease, haematological malignancies, haemoglobinopathies, malaria as well as complications associated with pregnancy. Access to safe and adequate blood and blood products remains a mirage in Nigeria more than 44 years after the first WHO resolution (WHA28.72) (WHA, 1975) to address the issue of universal and equitable access to safe blood as well as effective and rational use of blood and blood products. Every year more than a 100 million people sustain life threatening injuries and more than 5 million die from trauma and injuries sustained from road traffic accidents, insurgencies, inter communal clashes and intra and post-operative bleed (Kauvar and Wade, 2005). Haemorrhage is the major cause of preventable death in Nigeria. A significant number of Nigerian women die every year from pregnancy- related complications (malaria-related anaemia, ante partum and post-partum haemorrhage) (Erhabor et al., 2015).