National Blood Transfusion Service limits collection

The National Blood Transfusion Service has decided to limit the collection of blood for a week due to a current shortage of a chemical used for the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test, its Director Dr. Lakshman Edirisinghe said.

He told the media that the country needed only 1,000 pints of blood per day, but the Blood Bank was currently facing a shortage of the chemical.

“Those who conduct blood donation campaigns in the coming week should organize small camps of only 50 participants,” Dr. Edirisinghe said.

An ELISA test is a blood test that is commonly used for laboratory tests to detect antibodies in a blood sample.

Dr. Edirisinghe said that the availability of the said chemical stock was sufficient only for a week.

“Therefore, the Blood Bank has decided to limit the collection of blood until the relevant chemical supply is restored,” he said.

“We hope to get the chemical through the Medical Supply Division (MSD), but if we fail to do so, we will have to face a big challenge.

“The supplier has guaranteed that the required quantity would be supplied this week,” he said.

“Due to that, the collection of blood has to be limited,” he said.

He said that the Blood Bank has a sufficient buffer stock of blood to continue the service for another week without interruption. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)