Shakiru’s (not real name) life took a devastating turn after he lost his job. Struggling to provide for himself and his family, he found himself at a crossroads, desperate for a solution.
With no safety net to catch him, he made a heartbreaking decision – to sell his blood for money.
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It was a choice born out of desperation in the face of overwhelming financial pressure.
As he made his usual walk to the laboratory, he slumped on the road and was rushed to the hospital by good Samaritans.
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Upon medical examination, it was discovered that his packed cell volume (PCV) was low, measuring about 11 per cent.
The medical team quickly transfused him with four pints of blood to resuscitate him.
The irony is striking – he was on his way to give life to someone else, while his own life was hanging by a thread.
Blood donation
Commercial blood donation is illegal in Nigeria, as the National Health Act of 2014 prohibits the sale and purchase of blood, with penalties including fines of up to N100,000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
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However, a black market for it thrives due to blood shortages, raising concerns about the safety of blood units collected from commercial and family replacement donors.
In Nigeria, an estimated 1,230,000 units of blood are collected across various facilities each year, with 90 per cent of these coming from paid commercial donors, according to the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC).
With over 200 million people in the country, Nigeria requires an estimated 1.8 million units of blood per annum; however, voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation accounts for only 10 per cent of the total blood collection in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), blood and blood products are essential resources for the effective management of women with complications during pregnancy and childbirth, children with severe anaemia, often resulting from malaria or malnutrition, accident victims and surgical and cancer patients.
Many of these paid donors, who charge between N10,000 and N25,000, depending on the location, now donate blood more frequently than the recommended period.
On the frequency of blood donation, Peter Ogundeji, a consultant haematologist, explained that a man can donate blood at most three times a year, while women, especially those menstruating, should donate blood twice a year.
According to him, donating more than the recommended amount is counterproductive and damaging to the donor, and it also reduces the quality of the red blood cells, which are critical in blood transfusions.
Mr Ogundeji, who works at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, emphasised the importance of following global standard guidelines, especially pre-donation blood level (haemoglobin) checks to determine the fitness of the blood donor.
The haematologist faulted unregulated private laboratories for promoting illegality, urging states and the Federal of Health and Social Welfare to ensure proper monitoring and regulation of blood bank activities.
For the country to achieve the WHO standards for 100% voluntary, non-remunerated blood donations, Mr Ogundeji called for increased public sensitisation and funding for blood transfusion service centres to drive voluntary blood donation programmes.
Low awareness
Experts note that many Nigerians are not well-informed about the importance of voluntary blood donation, saying myths, fear, and misconceptions were factors affecting the blood donation drive.
“We notice that in this part of the world, it’s not common for people to go and donate blood and walk away.
They want to donate blood and get something in return,” said Lucky Okpetu, a haematologist at the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta. “It’s not supposed to be so.”
“Nigeria needs about 1.8 million units of blood per annum, but we hardly get up to 500,000 pints in a year in the whole country. And that is sad.”
Mr Okpetu said blood is a vital organ in the body, describing it as priceless.
“What we are doing is that we are offering blood for people to procure at a particular cost. That cost is due to the screening, grouping, and typing of the blood.
“The reagent to use costs money, that is virtually what people are paying for,” Mr Okpetu said.
However, Babajide Saheed, Lagos State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, pointed out that the high cost of blood procurement is encouraging commercialisation, especially in Lagos State.
“Patients pay between N70,000 and N100,000 for a pint of blood, depending on the location. How will you convince many Nigerians to donate blood freely with this exorbitant price charged for whole blood?” Mr Saheed queried.
He argued that attributing the high cost of blood units to the price of reagents and other processing tools used in blood banking and transfusion was untenable.
Consequently, he urged the federal and state governments to subsidise the unit cost of blood and remove bottlenecks associated with its access, saying ‘blood is life’.
Regulatory framework guiding blood transfusion in Lagos is overseen by the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS), which conducts routine monitoring of private and public blood banks to ensure full compliance with WHO, NBSC, and Lagos State standards, including licensing requirements, proper component preparation, mandatory testing, and haemovigilance.
Samuel Alori, Head of Monitoring and Enforcement at LSBTC, stated that Lagos has witnessed a decline in illegal blood banking practices due to enhanced inspections and the introduction of improved monitoring tools.
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Mr Alori said these tools include updated checklists, transfusion consent forms, and HaemoCentral, the state’s digitised haemovigilance platform.
Experts suggest that commercially remunerated blood donors pose a challenge to the safety of blood, recommending their phasing out to enable high-quality blood donation.
They emphasised the need to educate Nigerians on the importance of regular, voluntary blood donations, highlighting that lives are saved when safely screened blood is stored in blood banks, making it easily accessible for health institutions, patients, and during emergencies.
(NAN Features)
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