Status report of the blood transfusion services in Myanmar

Abstract

The Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) initiated blood donation activities in 1961, and since then, has been organizing regular blood donation activities. The MRCS supports the ‘national blood and blood product law’ (enacted in January 2003) to save patients lives through blood transfusion of quality assured blood and blood products and to prevent transfusion transmissible infections through the promotion of Voluntary Nonremunerated Blood Donation (VNRBD). Every day, millions of people in the country require blood transfusion. Most transfusions save lives, but there is always a risk of infection from contaminated blood. Safe blood may generally be described as having no trace of viruses, parasites, or other factors that may cause harm to the recipient. A system of regular blood donation from voluntary nonremunerated blood donors is widely recognized as a critical factor in quality blood service delivery. Blood collected from family or replacement donors, especially paid donors, is known to have a higher incidence and prevalence of transfusion-transmissible infections. Blood collected from a voluntary system is safe, and less likely to contain HIV, Hepatitis B or C, or some other infections. A crucial element in ensuring safety is to know as much as possible about the source of donated blood. Voluntary nonremunerated blood donors who chip-in blood regularly are the low-risk donors because they are motivated solely by altruism and have no reason to conceal. This requires the establishment of an effective blood donor program for education, motivation, and recruitment of voluntary blood donors, assessing the suitability of donors, safe blood collection procedures, and high-quality donor care to promote donor retention. Union of Myanmar, with an area of 676.578 square kilometers, has a total population of 52.17 millions. The population density of the capital is 390/sq km, whereas that of China state is 10/sq km. There are 17 states/divisions, 65 districts, and 325 branches. There are 135 national groups of more than 100 languages. Seventy percent of population resides in rural areas and 30% in urban expanse.