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Concern over quality at private blood bank By Faraza
Farook While the national policy is that private blood banks should not be allowed due to the high risk of unsafe blood being used, this reportedly first private blood bank has been operating for almost a month, with Health Ministry officials said to be oblivious to it. Health Minister
P. Dayaratne told The Sunday Times that he was unaware there is
a private blood bank and that it had not been brought to his notice.
"It's our policy not to allow private blood banks and I will
look into it," he said. Presently,
blood banks are only hospital based and both private and state hospitals
have their own blood banks. Although private hospitals are allowed
to collect, store and issue blood to their patients, private blood
banks outside hospitals have not been sanctioned. A senior Health
Ministry official confirmed that the private blood bank in Colombo
is being operated without the ministry's approval and action will
be taken in due course. He said action will be taken following the
implementation of the National Blood Policy. However, The
Sunday Times learns that the National Blood Policy formulated in
2001 under the PA government has received Cabinet approval several
months back, but has not been implemented as yet, due to reasons
known only to Health Ministry officials. The National Blood Policy
aims at having a uniform regulation for blood safety to minimise
risks such as contracting HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B among other infections. If the National
Blood Policy is implemented, the National Blood Transfusion Service
(NBTS) will be the sole collector and supplier of blood catering
to both the state and private sector. Today, private
hospitals operate a system where blood supplied to patients have
to be replaced by a family donor or a paid donor. "This practice
of having to replace blood force people to find a donor, irrespective
of his background," Blood Bank Director Dr. Ranjini Bindusara
said. According to
the National Blood Policy, private sector hospitals, although they
can have their own blood banks can only store blood and test it
for compatibility before transfusing it to patients. Processing,
screening for germs and diseases and preparation of blood components
will be handled by the NBTS. The National
Blood Policy was formulated by the Health Ministry after consultation
with the WHO, medical professionals and Ministry officials. "It is
aimed at a centrally coordinated system with proper guidelines which
will ensure a uniform system. If various people start collecting
blood, they might not adhere to the same standards," Dr. Bindusara
said, adding, " if the private sector is to have its own guidelines
there won't be uniformity". She said counseling
was an important aspect in the blood bank service. "Sometimes,
family members are not willing to donate blood for reasons known
only to them. At this point, counseling is important to find out
the reason behind their unwillingness which could be bad behaviour.
But this facility may not be available in the private sector,"
Dr. Bindusara said. With the private
sector collecting blood there could be the hidden danger of high
risk donors. Three-wheeler drivers, minor employees, sex workers,
IV drug users are some of the high risk categories identified. Since
donors are remunerated, in many cases, in the private sector, such
dangers cannot be ruled out. Former Health
Minister John Seneviratne said the National Blood Policy was formulated
because some people who donated blood were not properly tested in
the private sector. "Of the confirmed HIV/AIDS cases, 50% comprise
West Asia returnees. Little lapses on our part can result in a larger
problem" he said. The new private
blood bank, which is said to be a non profit-making organisation
collects blood from voluntary donors, but is said to provide hospitals
with the required blood at a fee. The charge for blood is made to meet the administrative and operational costs, the blood bank claims. Tamil teacher shortage continues By Nilika
Kasturisinghe More than 200
have been accommodated in the Sinhala medium intake than in the
Tamil medium intake. In 2002, 2931
teacher-trainees were taken in with 822 of them being for the Tamil
medium. This year 3,700 have been taken in with 1325 being for the
Tamil medium and 1535 for the Sinhala medium. Meanhwhile,
school children in Puttalam boycotted classes on Thursday and Friday
protesting against the severe teacher shortage in Tamil medium schools. Since massive
numbers of displaced Muslims came from the North to the Puttalam
district due to the terrorist problem, nearly 17,000 Tamil medium
students have to be accommodated in the education system in that
district. "We are
facing a real dilemma, with an excess of teachers in the Sinhala
medium and a shortage of 6,000 teachers in the Tamil medium, Education
Minister Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku told The Sunday Times. The shortage
is acute in the North and East of the country, the plantation areas
also face a shortage and even in Colombo there is a problem, he
said. He said that
though there is an excess of Sinhala medium teachers in certain
districts there is an acute shortage of such teachers in Moneragala.
The day the
Tamil medium vacancies are completely filled there will be many
provincial councils unable to pay teachers' salaries, he quipped. Dr. Kodituwakku said the Cabinet had taken a special decision to send 3,000 teachers to the North and East. Redundant state bodies to wither away By Shanika
Udawatte A senior Treasury
official told The Sunday Times that first the Treasury identified
certain departments and institutions which could be categorised
as redundant and then informed the respective ministries to present
their views on the matter. Once the ministry came to an agreement
the scrapping or merging of departments or institutions will take
place, he said. He said that
public servants from the Combined Services employed in such government
institutions can opt to either serve in other government institutions
or retire with a compensation. But if they are not from the Combined
Services they would have to leave with a compensation, he added. The Agriculture
and Co-operatives Ministries are two ministries that have scrapped
institutions under their purview. Co-operatives
Minister A R M Abdul Cader said the Co-operative Management Training
Institute is non-functional and the Government Bakery, both of which
come under the Food Department, has been scrapped recently. A spokesman for the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry said 'Janatha Pohora' was scrapped on Friday while the Agricultural Development Authority is also to suffer the same fate.
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