The government plans to expand the country’s blood cold storage capacity from the current 20,500 units to 49,500 units by the end of July. Three cold rooms in the regional banks are currently under rehabilitation as part of the effort to curb the perennial blood shortage in the country, which has seen a steady increase in appeals for donations. The Health ministry has procured three additional cold rooms as well as eight additional fridges and freezers, a move that is expected to go a long way in ensuring no one lacks blood in the country. “Blood is now readily available in our regional blood banks and facilities in need of blood can do a requisition. “We have started to do reviews, renovations on our blood banks and that is really changing what we can and cannot do not across the regions because we want to bring as much capacity as possible,” Nduku said.

Source: The Star July 04, 2021 19:52 UTC