Blood transfusion service gets cash boost

The British Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union have donated €1.5 million (US $1.9 million) for the acquisition of blood test kits and reagents for Zimbabwe's cash-strapped National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS). NBTS's public relations manager, Emmanuel Masvikeni, told the media in Bulawayo on Friday that the kits and reagents would be imported over the next two months. "DFID will provide €933,000 ($1.1 million) for the procurement of blood collection and blood test kits. They will include serology kits used in testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis," said Masvikeni. The EU, he added, would provide €573,000 ($720,000) for the purchase of more serology kits and reagents. The reagents are used for classifying donated blood according to blood group. The NBTS stopped buying them last year due to escalating import costs and the shortage of foreign currency. "In some cases, NBTS had to ask pregnant mothers to buy their own anti-D reagents because we were unable to provide them," Masvikeni said. Like the rest of Zimbabwe's ailing health sector, the NTBS has faced equipment and supply shortages as a result of the country's economic crisis. The lack of blood test kits has led to concerns over the safety of blood provided by the NBTS.