Abstract:
Aims: The demand for blood and blood products in
sub-Saharan Africa is occasioned by tropical infectious
diseases and obstetric complications that cause anemia.
We therefore need a well-organized blood transfusion
service with sufficient resources to process blood and
blood products, especially in the Western Kenya, where
co-infections of tropical diseases are rampant. This
study was aimed at determining the blood deficiency
and challenges experienced by Eldoret Regional Blood
Transfusion Center (ERBTC).
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was
used to conduct the study. All the ERBTC staffs, donor
records, and blood requisition and dispatch registers
were studied. Self-administered questionnaires and data
collection abstraction forms were used to collect data.
The extracted data from ERBTC registers included those
on demand and supply mismatches and blood discards.
The obtained data were entered into Microsoft Excel and
analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 16 staffs, 230 donor records, and
9612 units of requested blood were reviewed. The ERBTC
reported many challenges ranging from understaffing,
limited funding, insufficient equipment, and irregular
reagents and other laboratory supplies. During the
study period, the blood bank only managed to supply
4740 units of blood against a demand of 9612 units,
thus occasioning a 50.7% deficit. A discard rate of 7.8%
after the screening was also reported due to insufficient
volumes after collection and transfusion transmissible
infections. However, there were no wastages during the
study period.
Conclusion: The main challenges experienced by
ERBTC were understaffing, insufficient funding, limited
equipment, frequent reagent outages, and discards of
unsuitable blood, resulting in very high deficits. We
recommend hiring staff, increased funding, acquiring
modern equipment and reagents, and recruiting known
regular blood donors to alleviate frequent shortage