‫ تقنياث المختبراث الطبيت‬/ ‫كليت النسور الجامعت‬

‫نقل الذم المحاضرة) ) – المرحلت الرابعت‬

‫ داليا نايف‬.‫د‬
9191-9102

Drawbacks of blood transfusion services in Iraq:

Iraq is unfortunately one of the latest countries in the world in blood transfusion
services. This unpleasant fact might be due to:
1. Absence of almost any type of scientific interest (e.g., no Iraqi blood banking journal and no
actual scientific meetings to review and improve the work in this field).
2. Absence of effective media interest in this field.
3. Absence of Iraqi people normal hematological indices ranges.
4. Absence of understanding of legal, social and humanitarian aspects of blood transfusion.
5. Many blood transfusion centers buildings are grossly unacceptable (regarding building
specifications and size, number and size of rooms and detailed specifications of each room).
6. Lack of proper training programs for junior staff and no CME (continuous medical education)
programs for senior staff.
7. Insufficient care about the regular and on-need voluntary blood transfusion programs with
self-acceptance and self-deferral issues.
8. Insufficient and irregular supply of empty blood bags, instruments and disposables.
9. Absence of real medical record profiling and registration process.
10. Absence of computerization and networking services.
11. The leaflet of standard tests of national center for blood transfusion services is not complete
and not updated.
12. Insufficient care for donors (no enough privacy, not enough examining doctors and medical
assistants, no proper history taking and physical examination, and this is really inexcusable
because 1st the blood donation process should not be urgent; and 2nd the highly recognized
cost-effectiveness of this examination).

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13. The choice of combination of tests (constant obligatory like PCR or NAT "Nucleic acid
testing" on pooled plasma for HCV, intermittent obligatory like anti-CMV IgM, and optional
like that for malaria) on blood donation that should be used in each center is insufficient.
14. Improper judgment on the test results in relation to Iraq society prevailing thinking
(especially when issuing VDRL + but TPHA – blood).
15. No antibody screening is done on blood donations.
16. The choice of cross matching procedure has not been reviewed in any time in the last many
years {to delete or modify unneeded and confusing steps like the IS (immediate spin, in Iraq
called room temperature step) or to include other options like abbreviated cross matching,
antibody screening and antibody identification tests}.
17. Insufficient recipient blood sample storage time (24hr instead of 1 wk).
18. Lack of any standards about the process of handling the blood samples and blood bags.
19. Lack of clear emergency guidelines on abbreviated cross match and how to shorten time of
delivery.
20. Insufficient care about prestigious and hygiene aspects.
21. Absence of all antibody identification, characterization and specification tests in Warm and
Cold Immune hemolytic anemia, which are an essential components of blood banking, apart
from the conventional DAT and IAT.
22. The present test of cold antibody titer is deficient.
23. Absence of any attempt to apply the MSBOS (Maximum surgical blood ordering schedule).