Is access to safe blood transfusions a consideration for you when selecting a medical tourism destination? Information from the WHO suggests it should be…
“Evidence-based strategies for blood safety and availability have been successfully implemented in most developed countries and some transitional and developing nations. However, despite the proven effectiveness of these strategies, many countries are making slow progress towards their implementation.”
Infection is a risk with any blood transfusion. Diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B & C, Malaria and Syphilis can be acquired through receiving contaminated blood products. This fact has lead to strict regulation and screening of blood products in developed countries.
The WHO Aide-Memoir for national blood programmes indicate that the risk of infection through blood product transfusion can be substantially reduced through the following measures:
- Establishment of a nationally-coordinated blood transfusion service
- Collection of blood only from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors from low-risk populations
- Testing of all donated blood, including screening for transfusion transmissible infections, blood grouping and compatibility testingReduction in unnecessary transfusions through the effective clinical use of blood, including the use of simple alternatives to transfusion (crystalloids and colloids), wherever possible.
But wait, before you unpack your suitcase and sell the house to have your surgery at home, there are many Medical Tourism destinations with equally as safe, or even safer, blood supplies than the USA’s. For example New Zealand has one of the safest blood supplies in the world with no reported cases of HIV transmission from blood transfusion since they began screening for it in 1985 (NZBS).
You should be able to obtain reliable information on screening and outcomes from the hospital or facilitator you choose. An example of such information is the New Zealand Blood Services Hemovigilance Report.
While giving blood prior to your surgery (Autologous Transfusion) is an option it is usually not appropriate for Medical Tourists for the following reasons:
- Most reputable blood organizations will only take around 4 units of blood. In the case of an emergency this may not be sufficient and you may still require donor blood as a ‘top up’.
- Ideally you should allow around 1 week between donations. With the final donation a bare minimum of 48 hours prior to your surgery. This leads to a long visit to your chosen destination!
- There is a cost involved in the collection and storage process.
- Not all people or procedures are suitable for autologous donations eg. Cardiac surgery.
All it takes is a little research to find out which destinations are safe. Any facilitator worth their salt should be able to provide you with some statistics on your preferred destinations. Failing that a simple Google search with “blood transfusions [country]” should give you an abundance of information.
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