UAE adopts 100pc blood filtration

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of ten countries worldwide where leukocyte filtration of blood is carried out and standard practices of blood transfusion are adopted, revealed Dr Abdul Rahim Jafar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health.

He said that the UAE had adopted 100 per cent blood filtration, aiming at the safety of regular blood recipients.

With that, the UAE is the only Arab and Asian country which offers 100 per cent filtered blood to patients.

Ten countries in the world have moved gradually to offer 100 per cent filtered blood and the UAE is one of them.

These countries are Austria, Canada, USA, France, Ireland , UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Germany and the UAE.

He said that it has been over two years since the industrialised nations began recognising the benefits of routine leukocyte filtration and began adopting it as a standard of practice.

Amin Hussain Al Amiri, Director of Medical Laboratories and Blood Transfusion Services at the Ministry of Health, noted that European countries have mandated universal leukocyte reduction as a matter of public policy, and the UAE has adopted similar steps to maintain the high level of health care to regular blood recipients.

He said that the UAE is providing 100 per cent filtered blood at the Abu Dhabi Central Blood Bank, Sharjah Blood Bank and the Blood Bank at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain.

The system filtrates blood and removes blood cells, viruses and bacteria with a rate reaching up to 99.98 per cent.

He explained that blood cells are responsible for complications that a blood recipient may suffer after blood transfusion.

Other GCC countries are now attempting to adopt the developed system to provide safe blood to patients.