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On World Blood Donor Day, WHO Focuses on Mothers
Posted on Jun 06, 2014 by Ailee Slater (G+)
On June 14, 2014, the World Health Organization and health groups around the world will celebrate World Blood Donor Day. It’s an opportunity to talk about the importance of donating blood – how to give blood safely, and how that blood can save lives.
This year, advocates will focus especially upon the issue of donating blood to save mothers’ lives – or more specifically, to save the lives of women who lose blood during childbirth. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every day around 800 women die of complications related to pregnancy and delivery, and a huge number of those deaths are due to excessive bleeding during birth or after delivery. Severe bleeding during childbirth can lead to death, but it can also lead to long-term health issues such as anemia. If postpartum hemorrhage is severe, a hysterectomy may be necessary.
Timely access to blood could save thousands of lives every year, which is why WHO has chosen “safe blood for saving mothers” as the slogan for World Blood Donor Day 2014. WHO is hopeful that this year’s campaign will encourage countries around the world to strengthen blood transfusion services for women giving birth. Blood transfusion has already been identified by WHO as one of nine life-saving interventions that could reduce fatal complications related to pregnancy.
Many of the lives lost due to post-delivery blood loss and other pregnancy complications are in Africa. WHO estimates that nearly 35 percent of all global deaths related to severe bleeding during childbirth occur in Africa, and sadly, the women most at risk are under 15 years old. Studies have found that when pregnant, adolescent girls are less likely than adult women to have access to skilled medical care when carrying and delivery their babies – and for many new mothers, that lack of skilled care means a lack of access to blood transfusions.
The first step to increasing maternal access to transfusions is to keep hospitals and smaller clinics equipped with enough blood – and that means organizing more frequent blood collection drives. WHO advises that ministries of health can promote voluntary blood donation through educational campaigns: creating advertisements, distributing leaflets and speaking to local media about the importance of donating blood. Advocates for mothers’ health and blood donation are also recommended to contact politicians, singers and other celebrities to join the cause and encourage the community to donate.
One country that has done a good job of improving blood donation rates is Sri Lanka, and to celebrate the nation’s work, Sri Lanka will host this year’s World Blood Donor Day global event. Held in Colombo on the 14 of June, the event will promote unpaid blood donation and call attention to the donation system in Sri Lanka. WHO has named Sri Lanka’s National Blood Transfusion Service the best model of blood donation and supply in all of South Asia. The Transfusion Service is government-organized, distributing blood to public and private hospitals across the nation, and through campaigns by the government, citizens in Sri Lanka have been strongly encouraged to donate blood as a regular act of kindness. Sri Lanka is the first South Asian country to host the World Blood Donor Day event, and the Sri Lankan chairman responsible for organizing the event has expressed pride in the nation’s 88 blood banks and more than 3,000 voluntary donors every year.
Sri Lanka’s strong rates of blood donation have helped the nation’s pregnant women, and other countries are being encouraged to follow that model of transfusion education and organization. Of course, improving maternal mortality rates isn’t just about having enough blood – it’s also about making sure that blood has been collected and distributed safely. Unsafe blood is that which comes from a person with an infectious disease such as malaria, syphilis, hepatitis or HIV. All of these diseases can be transmitted from person to person by blood – if a blood donor is unknowingly infected with one of these diseases, and if neither person nor blood is tested, that infection will almost certainly be passed on to the patient receiving a transfusion. In the case of a woman in need of blood for pregnancy complications, that disease may be passed on to her child as well.
To ensure that donated blood is safe, it can be screened for infectious diseases – however, at US$40 per unit, the cost of such screening is high. WHO points out that the cost of an HIV infection is also high, and preventing such infections by screening blood will ultimately save developing nations money and lives. Besides blood screening, donation programs can also reduce patient risk by following standards of blood collection and hygiene; for example, requiring donors to undergo an infectious disease test before giving blood. Stricter standards from governmental groups can encourage clinics to keep to a stricter and safer protocol.
Interestingly, evidence shows that the safest blood comes from those who donate regularly and voluntarily – donors offered money or those who only donate occasionally are more likely to provide unsafe blood. Therefore, WHO recommends that governments encourage voluntary blood donation for two reasons: more donations will lead to more available blood, and more voluntary, unpaid donors should produce greater supplies of safe, infection-free blood.
Making blood transfusions safe also involves proper methods of getting that blood to patients in need. Clinics must be vigilant in their use of sterilized needles, and should test patients for blood compatibility before the transfusion begins. Once again, in the case of pregnant women, an unsafe blood transfusion will endanger mother as well as baby.
Becoming a frequent, voluntary blood donor can very literally save lives, and World Blood Donor Day is a good time to begin this altruistic practice – and health care advocates around the globe are hoping that this June, healthy, qualifying adults will be encouraged to do just that.