News / Health
Zimbabwe to offer free blood transfusion for pregnant women
14 Mar 2011 at 09:03hrs | Views
Pregnant women can now access blood for free at all referral and provincial hospitals in Zimbabwe following an arrangement entered into by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA.
All referral and provincial hospitals are getting stocks of blood and blood products to be administered free of charge to any pregnant woman requiring blood transfusion.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, said: "The initiative is a pilot programme and will assist in determining whether the maternal death rate will fall if pregnant women requiring transfusion are attended to without delays."
Dr Mombeshora noted that regular availability of blood to pregnant women will contribute significantly towards efforts to reduce maternal deaths in the country.
Normally, a pint of blood costs US$50 at a rural or mission hospital, while at government hospitals it is pegged at US$84. Private institutions charge US$105 for the same amount of blood.
Blood is collected on a voluntary basis in the country, but the National Blood Transfusion Services attributes the high cost of blood to operational and laboratory costs incurred during the processing before blood is packed for various uses.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health in 2009 showed that maternal deaths had increased from 555 per every 100 000 births in 2005 to 725 per in 2009.
The high cost of blood was cited as one of the reasons for the high maternal death rate as many women could not afford it.
All referral and provincial hospitals are getting stocks of blood and blood products to be administered free of charge to any pregnant woman requiring blood transfusion.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, said: "The initiative is a pilot programme and will assist in determining whether the maternal death rate will fall if pregnant women requiring transfusion are attended to without delays."
Dr Mombeshora noted that regular availability of blood to pregnant women will contribute significantly towards efforts to reduce maternal deaths in the country.
Normally, a pint of blood costs US$50 at a rural or mission hospital, while at government hospitals it is pegged at US$84. Private institutions charge US$105 for the same amount of blood.
Blood is collected on a voluntary basis in the country, but the National Blood Transfusion Services attributes the high cost of blood to operational and laboratory costs incurred during the processing before blood is packed for various uses.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health in 2009 showed that maternal deaths had increased from 555 per every 100 000 births in 2005 to 725 per in 2009.
The high cost of blood was cited as one of the reasons for the high maternal death rate as many women could not afford it.
Source - Byo24NEWS
