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Obtaining blood when persons need it can be a harrowing experience. Very recently, I felt it vicariously while a comrade urgently required blood.
Eighteen months ago, on 30 August 2022, the Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh MP issued a message concerning blood donation, which created misgivings in some of those who organise regular blood donation drives.
(Copyright Office of the Parliament)
A year later, a draft Freedom of Information (FOI) request on behalf of an organisation, well drafted by a public-spirited young attorney, was shared with me.
The Minister stated in 2022 that “just over 20,000 units of blood are donated by members of the public annually” and that “this country actually requires 70,000 units of blood per year”. My understanding is that this target was subsequently revised to 40,000 units per year.
The Minister proposed a Ministry of Health recruitment drive to obtain “at a minimum 1.5 percent of the population, approximately 20,000 persons within 24 to 36 months, to donate blood voluntarily about 2 to 3 times a year. That is, donating in a purely altruistic manner, without an immediate need to do so, to support a friend or family member who may be in urgent need of blood.”
The message then stated: “The Ministry therefore intends to gradually phase out the existing chit system over the next 24-36 months to move toward the True Voluntary Non-Remunerated blood donation model. As you would be aware, the current system, is non-altruistic and causes stress when loved ones require access to safe blood.”
The “chit system” is a reference to the practice whereby if a person donates blood on behalf of a patient a chit is issued to the donor to show the hospital that the patient can be given blood in exchange.
Minister Deyalsingh carried on further referring to “these visions of humanity” and announced five “revolutionary innovations”.
Given that the country usually has a deficit in the blood we need, periodic updates on the results of the so-called innovations are critical—especially because my information is that chits are no longer given to voluntary organisations, which conducted blood drives that brought additional blood into the system.
Photo: Ministry of Health
By contrast, it appears that the chit system has remained in operation at the government agencies. Is this a case of do as I say but not as I do? Were the voluntary organisations unfairly and imprudently sidelined?
In fact, the chit system guarantees nothing in the game of blood that is bureaucratically and sometimes cruelly played with patients and their anxious blood donors. This game of blood contains all the problems of the potential abuse of centralised power.
For example, having given blood in Trinidad for a relative in Tobago or given blood in San Fernando for a relative in Mount Hope may result in a hard time to have the donation accepted or recognised in Tobago or Mount Hope respectively.
Photo: WHO
Regardless of the reported intention to make an FOI request, the Minister should be challenged in Parliament about the progress of his “innovations” because, there are long-enduring issues to be resolved regarding blood donation.
One is getting supply to match demand. Another is the implementation of a system to track and accurately account for blood donations at the blood collection centres.
Without resolution of these fundamental issues, anxious families will continue to be given a run-around by a system that seems haphazard, and manipulable, despite the ministerial announcement about “revolutionary innovations”.
(Copyright Ministry of Health)
Moreover, the Minister made moralistic assessments of what is selfless and what is altruistic. Is not a blood donation for a friend of itself an altruistic act, particularly as blood is perishable and cannot be hoarded?
Over 50 years’ experience in several fields of endeavour, including the Senate and boardrooms, has made me aware that moralising may cause statements and decisions to be unsound.
When will we have a realistic account of the current state of the blood collection system, its method of operation and the Ministry of Health’s expenditures in this area?
Has the deficit decreased or has it worsened following the so-called revolutionary initiatives announced as long ago as August 2022? Where is the empirical data?
Where is the continuing accountability obviously required in respect of a matter of life and death?
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Martin G Daly SC is a prominent attorney-at-law. He is a former Independent Senator and past president of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
He is chairman of the Pat Bishop Foundation and a steelpan music enthusiast.
