LASG seals private hospital over unscreened blood

By Chioma Obinna

LAGOS—Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, LSBTS, said it has shut a private Hospital, located at Ago-Okota, in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of the state, for allegedly collecting and transfusing unscreened blood.

The Executive Secretary of LSBTS, Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, who disclosed this, yesterday, said the health facility was sealed by LSBTS and the Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, HEFAMAA, following a tip off by a concerned citizen.

Osikomaiya said: “A concerned citizen had reached out to us to report the unwholesome practices of the facility. Following the tip off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management.

“This facility was sealed for contravening the provision of the Blood Transfusion Service law, specifically, law 10, item 31 which states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labelled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS.”

The Executive Secretary stated that the details of the blood donors and transfusion recipients have been retrieved from the management of the facility, adding that citizens who had been transused with unscreened units of blood at the facility are being traced as part of protocol, in order to know their clinical health status, ascertain and ensure their health safety.