SPEECH BY THE GUEST OF HONOUR HONOURABLE MINISTER OF HEALTH & CHILD CARE HON. DR DAVID PARIRENYATWA (SENATOR) NATIONAL COMMEMORATION

Transcription

1 SPEECH BY THE GUEST OF HONOUR HONOURABLE MINISTER OF HEALTH & CHILD CARE HON. DR DAVID PARIRENYATWA (SENATOR) AT THE WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY NATIONAL COMMEMORATION BULAWAYO METROPOLITAN PROVINCE 13 JUNE 2015

2 PROTOCOL

3 It is with great pleasure to stand before you today at this important occasion on the health calendar, as we join other countries globally in commemorating World Blood Donor Day. Since 2004, all countries around the world celebrate this important day. Today is also an important day, as earlier in the programme, we witnessed the unveiling of the new National Blood Service Zimbabwe brand; congratulations on this great achievement. Blood is a precious resource donated by individuals and in many cases it saves lives. It is to these people that World Blood Donor Day is dedicated, and today we join the rest of the world in celebrate these men and women who donate their blood freely. An adequate blood supply can only be assured through regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors. The WHO s goal is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors by In 2014, 60 countries had their national blood supplies based on % voluntary unpaid blood donations, with 73 countries still largely dependent on family and paid donors.

4 The Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe subscribes to the World Health Assembly resolution 28:72 which urges all WHO Member States to promote and support the establishment of sustainable blood transfusion services based on voluntary non-remunerated blood donation. The Zimbabwean Government has always supported and implemented this Resolution and recognizes its obligation to promote the adoption of policies in line with ethical principles of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation. The theme for this year s commemorations Thank you for saving my Life focuses on thanking all blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters. Blood transfusion services are an indispensable component of any health delivery system in the world and the Health millennium goals cannot be achieved without adequate supply of safe blood to the population. The Ministry of Health and Child Care has accepted the challenges as laid out in the United Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals; recognising that

5 goal 4, 5 and 6 relate to issues where blood plays an important part in the health and well being of Women, Children and HIVAIDS management respectively. Every time you donate blood you are saving lives. Blood cannot be manufactured and there is NO substitute to it. It is in constant demand for women suffering from haemorrhage during or after childbirth, children suffering from severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition, victims of trauma and accidents. Blood is a highly perishable product with a very short shelf life of only 42 days at most therefore it needs to be replenished constantly in our blood banks. Because of the seasonal blood shortages that sometimes occur during school holidays, it is important to create a strong blood donor base of committed youth and adults that consistently give blood to avert episodes of blood shortage throughout the year. Today, we are here to thank all those who are currently part of this blood donor pool in Zimbabwe for saving many lives. Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen; it is important for us as a country to take ownership of the blood donation programme as the people in need of this blood in the hospitals may be

6 your relative or my relative. In fact, it could be any one of us here who finds themselves in sudden need of blood so there is a need for all of us to be ambassadors by being blood donors and also spreading the word of how important blood is and how it saves lives. The people who are coming to give blood are doing it for our good so that we have blood supplies throughout the country in our hospitals to assist the needy patient. According to the WHO, in 2013, the number of blood donations in the African Region was about 3.9 million units, which only cover about 50% of requirements by countries. Currently, in 24 countries, 80% of the national blood supplies are derived from voluntary unpaid blood donations, whilst 23 countries still depend on family donors and paid donors even though it is firmly established that the prevalence of transfusion transmissible infections among these categories of donors is higher than among voluntary unpaid blood donors. Therefore, the choice of this year s theme is particularly important in Africa where the number of blood donations remains low and the access to blood is a challenge.

7 As we look at the blood supply in Zimbabwe, factors such as the safe and rationale clinical use of the blood by our health workers in the hospitals is important and as a Ministry it is our sole responsibility to ensure that the patients in the hospitals requiring blood transfusion have access to safe blood products produced in time and safely administered so as to improve safety and minimize the risks of adverse reactions. Blood transfusion can have serious and fatal consequences if it is not practiced to set standards. I am pleased to say that Zimbabwe has a regulatory framework in place through the National Blood Policy as well as the Standards for Blood Donation and Clinical Transfusion that were launched in September These documents aim to address all the principal issues that affect the quality, safety, and availability of blood in Zimbabwe, from collection up to transfusion. The National Blood Service Zimbabwe has facilitated different training programmes, targeting healthcare workers throughout the country on how to use these policy documents.

8 Turning to the issue of quality; quality systems for blood safety is key to ensuring the availability of safe blood for all patients who need transfusion. Blood transfusion is a multi-step process with risk of error in each process from the donor recruitment, collecting, processing, and testing of the donor and patient samples. An effective quality system provides a framework in which activities are established, performed and monitored in a quality assured manner, thereby minimizing risks. Ministry of Health and Child Care is moving towards quality standards across all our institutions and a coordinated public health laboratory service that is strengthened and functioning according to adopted standards. Through the Department of Quality Assurance, we aim to develop and implement Continuous Quality Improvement Programmes for our laboratory services. WHO recognizes quality laboratory services as key to improving global health and reaching Millennium Development Goals and it is the mandate of my Ministry to ensure that the laboratory personnel performing the various procedures in the laboratories are properly trained and licensed to carry out proper testing procedures. The Medical Laboratories and

9 Clinical Scientists Council of Zimbabwe are mandated to ensure that standards of training for Medical Laboratory personnel are in line with international requirements for accreditation and ISO certification. On behalf of Government, the Council has also developed guidelines to assist laboratories with ISO certification and accreditation. This was a strategic decision by government to adopt the Quality Management System for medical laboratories in Zimbabwe. Your Excellencies, our distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen; I wish to point out that the Zimbabwe blood supply is safe and this takes a lot of effort and hard work. Through our Blood Service, Zimbabwe has been able to achieve this. January 2015 saw us witnessing the handover of the ISO 9001:2008 certificate to NBSZ. I am told that NBSZ was the first Blood Service in Africa to be ISO certified in Such achievements do not come on a silver platter, but come through teamwork and commitment by all staff. Early in the year, Zimbabwe hosted the Joint Meeting of SADC Ministers of Health and Minsters responsible for HIV and Aids. During this meeting, I highlighted to my fellow Ministers in the SADC Region the best practices of NBSZ amongst them, the good quality

10 management systems of Zimbabwe s blood service. After this meeting, the Honourable Minister of Health from the Kingdom of Swaziland, Hon Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane, visited the Blood Service and was able to see the work being done and get ideas for recommendation to her Blood Service back home in Swaziland. Ladies and gentlemen; quality is expensive and for the Blood Service to maintain these good quality standards and for continual improvement, they have to be adequately funded. The fiscal budget requirements for NBSZ comprise less than 1% of the total annual health budget. As a Ministry, we are fully committed to ensure that NBSZ is fully funded in order to be able to provide the national requirements for blood and blood components, which reduce all unnecessary morbidity and prevent deaths due to lack of blood. The blood user fees remain out of reach to the poor Zimbabwean but we must not be ignorant of the fact that funding is needed so that we maintain the set standards and safety of our blood supply so that the patient receives safe blood.

11 We recognise the funding support from the following organisations in particular: UNICEF through the HTF that has assisted pregnant women who were dying needlessly because of failure to afford blood. National Aids Council, which provides partial to full funding for test kits since The PEPFAR programme, which is coming to an end this September after 5 years, has come in a big way to assist with funding for operations, recapitalization and other critical items. The European Union, which has supported NBSZ over the last 20 years in many aspects. As Government, we are working hard in identifying other funding opportunities, as the very limited grant allocated through the fiscus has not been enough to sustain the Blood Service. We need to work on adequately funding our Blood Service in order to reduce, or remove in some cases, the cost related to blood supply to the needy patient. To the organizers of this event ie the NBSZ; congratulations, on putting together an exciting programme with an array of entertainment from our youths and arts industry. Last year, you successfully hosted Her

12 Excellency the First Lady, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe in Mashonaland West and this year, we are in Bulawayo where we have been joined by Your Excellencies from other countries. The Ministry of Health is very proud of you; please keep this up this high standard. Your Excellencies, I wish to mention that in 1985 our Blood Service was the third country in the world to introduce the mandatory screening for HIV in every blood donation. The existence of HIV in Zimbabwe was discovered through the NBSZ. They have done a very good job in providing this service. The health of the person who receives the blood is paramount hence the continued assessment of the suitability of the donor to donate a safe unit of blood and screening of all donated blood for infection. This requires a lot of effort and consistency in order to maintain the right standards. In July last year, Zimbabwe successfully hosted the 7 th Biannual Africa Society for Blood Transfusion Congress in the resort town of Victoria Falls. It is pleasing to note that we hosted a congress that brought together doctors, medical specialists, scientists from all over the world

13 who managed to exchange information for the advancement of knowledge in the field of blood transfusion. I wish to recognise the hard work done over the years by NBSZ Board Chairman Justice Retired Justice Leslie Smith, and Patron Professor Hope Sadza. You are all very busy people who always take time to support the NBSZ programmes. Thank you. The new NBSZ CEO in office Madame Lucy Marowa; well done. Today you have unveiled a new brand, which I am sure you will be able to market very well regionally and internationally. I reaffirm the Ministry s commitment to supporting you as you work on implementing the vision that you have for NBSZ and to maintain the great legacy that was built over the years by the retired CEO Mr David Mvere. Our Host Honourable Minister Moyo, thank you for your great hospitality and for warmly welcoming us into your Province. It is pleasing that the Provincial leadership in this Region supports the blood donation programmes.

14 My remarks cannot end without thanking the people who have made it possible today; our sponsors. This year I am told that 23 organizations have come on board to support this event. Once again to our voluntary blood donors; please remain committed to donating blood and saving lives. We recognise your great commitment and sincerely hope that you will continue donating your precious blood that saves lives. The Ministry of Health & Child Care encourages you and all potential donors to Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters. HAPPY WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY SIYABONGA TATENDA I THANK YOU