The Cần Thơ Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital have run out of chemicals and medical supplies for blood screening and testing. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

CẦN THƠ — The Cần Thơ Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital is a source hospital that provides blood and blood products to 74 hospitals in the Mekong Delta region.

However, the hospital announced that from June 1, they have run out of chemicals and medical supplies for blood screening and testing. This means that the 74 lower-level hospitals are also facing difficulties in terms of blood supply.

According to the Director of the Cần Thơ Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, the cause of the blood shortage is difficulties in procurement, purchasing supplies, screening reagents, and blood testing.

To cope with the current blood shortage, in terms of the managing units, on June 3, the Department of Health Services Administration, Ministry of Health, issued a document regarding the coordination to ensure the supply of blood and blood products for emergency and treatment purposes for patients.

For now, the Department of Health Services Administration has assigned the Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, the National Blood Center, as the coordinating focal point. They will collaborate with blood transfusion centres under Chợ Rẫy Hospital, Huế Central Hospital, Hồ Chí Minh City Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, and other blood transfusion centres to ensure the supply of blood and blood products for hospitals in the Mekong Delta region.

Nguyễn Xuân Việt, a specialist at the level 2 hospital, Director of the Cần Thơ City Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, stated that the cause of the current situation is difficulties in tendering and procuring supplies, screening reagents, and blood testing.

As soon as they received the tendering instructions from the Cần Thơ City Department of Health at the end of 2022, the hospital submitted the approved list of supplies and chemicals needed for procurement, anticipating possible delays in the approval process.

In addition, to proactively ensure sufficient blood supply for hospitals in the Mekong Delta region (except for Long An and Kiên Giang), the hospital has implemented an urgent solution of maintaining a blood reserve that can be used for 3 to 6 months.

However, despite requesting blood assistance multiple times from facilities in HCM City and Hà Nội, the hospital has been unable to withstand the situation until now.

Previously, in mid-March 2023, the Cần Thơ Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital issued a document regarding the postponement of receiving voluntary blood donations.

During that time, the hospital's procurement and supply of chemicals, medical supplies, and equipment for the years 2023-2024 were pending results, resulting in insufficient quantities of blood bags, chemicals, and medical supplies for reception and blood screening.

After a 3-month wait, starting from June 1, the hospital officially ran out of chemicals and medical supplies for screening and preparing red blood cells and rare blood types, thus unable to provide red blood cells and rare blood types.

The bottleneck lies in the budget approval process; once approved, the hospital can proceed with selecting contractors and procuring supplies.

According to Việt, the hospital receives and supplies approximately 12,000-15,000 units of blood to hospitals in the Mekong Delta region monthly.

Annually, the hospital requires around VNĐ150 billion (US$6.3 million) to purchase new chemicals and medical supplies to meet the demand for blood collection and supply in the region. — VNS