INQUIRER Global Nation

THE DEPARTMENT of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) is aiming to have a stock of blood that is 100 percent donated by January 2010, an official said.

The aim correlates with the health department’s objective to make sure that the blood supply in the region is of high quality and disease- free, said Dr. Reynette Legaray, regional blood center chief of DOH-7.

“It has been identified that safe blood can be taken from voluntary donors,” Legaray said.

Donors who sell their blood tend to hide critical information about their state of health, she said.

“We would like to correct the behavior and attitude of the blood donors, that they may be altruistic toward blood donation. Although we have tests that can detect diseases at an early stage, we also rely on the answers of the donors to the screening questions,” she added.

“There are some diseases that could be transmitted to the patient even when they test negative in the serological tests that we conduct,” she said. “There are diseases that have a window period wherein the patient does not exhibit symptoms and the organism causing the disease could still test negative.”

Laboratories usually screen for malaria, syphilis, Hepatitis B and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Legaray said that, for now, the regional blood center has a steady supply of blood for hospital use.

“What we were aiming for was a sustainable supply. We usually have a lot of blood between June and July but we also have lean months,” she said.

Dr. Winifredo Pernia, Philippine Blood Center chief, said there is an administrative order centralizing the country’s blood supply.

“By 2010, blood collection and testing would be centralized and private hospitals will no longer be allowed to do blood collection,” Pernia said.