Blood service law anti-poor, anti-family

Blood service law anti-poor, anti-family

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:57am (Mla time) 12/09/2008

Filed Under: Laws, Health, Health organizations

Recently, my uncle was rushed to a private hospital here in Aparri. His attending physician said that he needed a blood transfusion. Some family members quickly volunteered to donate their blood. However, we were told that we had to get the blood supply from the Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) in Tuguegarao City because CVMC is the province’s blood center that houses the laboratory that screens blood donors and issues blood for transfusion. It is good that my uncle’s need for blood transfusion was not urgent; otherwise he would have gone to the other world because it takes about two hours by land from Aparri to Tuguegarao City.

A few weeks after, another relative was confined to the hospital. Again, a blood transfusion was needed to treat her. But again, willing family members could not immediately donate their blood because the blood supply had to come from CVMC.

I learned that Republic Act 7719 (also known as the National Blood Services Act of 1994) and the related administrative orders issued by the Department of Health provide guidelines on the regulation of blood services. I am of the opinion that this law is anti-poor and anti-family. For instance, it is common among typical poor Filipino families, being clannish, to help a sick family member by donating blood when needed. Such demonstration of family solidarity translates into big financial savings for the families.

However, the law discourages family unity. Instead of helping ease the difficulties facing the family of a sick person who needs blood transfusion, it aggravates the situation. Where will the family get the money to pay for the needed blood supply? And why do they have to buy when there are family members willing to donate blood for free? What about the transportation expenses to be incurred in getting the blood supply from a far-flung blood bank center? And considering the distance, would the blood supply be delivered in time for the transfusion? What if the doctor suddenly sees the need for a blood transfusion in the dead of night?

I am sure other poor families in the country who are similarly situated are bothered by RA 7719. They may have worse stories to tell than mine.

I would presume that the lawmakers who passed this law were driven by the best of intentions; that all they wanted was to ensure that the blood given to the patient would be unpolluted or dirt-free and would match the blood of the patient. That is understandable. But they have to review the law to make it more responsive to the needs of the poor.

REGINALD B. TAMAYO, member, Sangguniang Bayan of Aparri, Aparri, Cagayan