Amended National Blood Transfusion Act before House soon

Nadira Gunatilleke

The amended National Blood Transfusion Act will be presented in Parliament within the next three months. The new Act will be sent to the Attorney General soon. The main objective of this Act is to further improve the National Blood Transfusion Service of Sri Lanka which has already won International recognition for its efficiency and safety, a Health Ministry spokesman said. According to the spokesman the Act was amended after obtaining the views presented by MPs when the Act was presented before Parliament for the first time.

Sri Lanka’s National Blood Transfusion Service is one of the best in the world and the best in Asia. Blood Transfusion Service is provided free only in 60 countries but their services are not safe as the Sri Lankan service. Once the Act is passed, the private hospitals can charge a nominal amount from patients for blood but they have to clearly mention it in their bill. The patients have the right to question about the money charged for the blood. At the moment the Health Ministry is unable to intervene when private hospitals charge large amounts of money for blood from patients, he said.

The Health Ministry charges only Rs. 1,200 from private hospitals for blood.

This amount does not match with the actual cost because one blood transfusion kit cost the ministry Rs. 1,500. The cost for other essential tests conducted to make sure the blood is safe too is very high. The state sector offers only safe blood to the patients, he added.