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Health Minister Peter Coleman has said the absence of a central blood bank and laboratory in the country is hampering the health delivery system, the Liberian News Agency reported on Monday.
At a panel discussion in Monrovia last week to commemorate this year's World Health Day, he said the country also lacked blood donated for transfusion and the equipment to screen the products properly.
Liberia's only blood bank and laboratory, established at the Red Cross Clinic before the civil war, was extensively damaged in that conflict, LINA reported.
An associated problem has been the practice by unqualified people within the health system conducting blood transfusions and disregarding the safety guidelines established by the Health Ministry, he said.
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