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{
    "id": 1081768,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1081768/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Endebess, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1458,
        "legal_name": "Robert Pukose",
        "slug": "robert-pukose"
    },
    "content": "contributions and there is some bit of confusion. Some are talking of counties yet this Bill establishes a national blood transfusion service. This is a cross-cutting service for the whole nation. We are creating a corporate body that will operate throughout the country. I come from the medical field. Initially, the Government of Japan, through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), supported national blood transfusion services by setting up eight blood transfusion centres within the country: in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nairobi, Eldoret, Embu, Nyeri and Nakuru. The centres were also supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) before devolution. When devolution came in, these services were left hanging, because it is a service that transcends across counties. It is not possible for every county to have a national blood transfusion centre because the service is a very expensive affair. You need to screen all the blood to make sure that it is fit for transfusion. What used to happen is that the centre in Eldoret would serve the entire North Rift, while the one in Nakuru serves the whole of South Rift. Institutions collect blood on demand. We say first in, first out. All the hospitals within those regions were being supported to put up blood transfusion departments. Those departments should have all the necessary reagents for grouping and cross merging, testing and making sure that every patient coming in is fit for transfusion. In developed countries like Japan, 98 per cent of donors are walk-in donors. You just walk in to the regional blood transfusion centre. Japan has eight regions called prefectures. Each prefecture has a blood transfusion service run by the Red Cross. You can walk in and say you want to donate only red blood cells or plasma or white blood cells. In our setup, we need to train our personnel to understand what it is to transfuse. It is not necessary that you have to transfuse whole blood. You can only transfuse whole blood in case of acute haemorrhage or if you are doing exchange blood transfusion. But there are other blood products. Essentially, a blood transfusion department should be able to support itself apart from receiving Exchequer resources. It should be able to generate its own appropriations-in-aid (A-in- A), because in cases such as haemophilia, you do not transfuse blood; you give them what we call factor concentrates. You can have a patient with haemophilia A or haemophilia B. The factor concentrates for each of them are different. The factor concentrates that we use on haemophilia patients in our country are imported from other countries. But it is possible that, with a national blood transfusion service, we can have units to manufacture the factor concentrates within the country. The same blood transfusion service can separate what we call the cryoprecipitate. They can have plasma and red blood cells concentrates. These can be given to various departments on demand. For example, I trained in blood transfusion in Japan and got a post-graduate diploma. When you are in the laboratory operating, you can use an air shooter. You make your demand of what you want to transfuse to the patient you are operating on. You make your requisition. You put a sample from the patient in an air shooter and shoot to the laboratory. The laboratory technologists will conduct grouping and cross match, get the correct blood and shoot back to you while you are operating in a theatre. It is that kind of advancement which we should be aiming for. We have had cases of terrorist attacks or mass loss of lives during which we make blood appeals. We should not be a nation of reaction. We should be a nation that is prepared to deal with various cases. That is why what Hon. Eseli was talking about concerning Israelis is true. They are The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}