Adequacy and pattern of blood donations in north-eastern Nigeria: the implications for blood safety

In a retrospective analysis, the quantities, patterns and adequacy of blood donations made, between 1984 and 2006, at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in north-eastern Nigeria were explored and related to blood safety in the study area. The types of blood donor were reviewed and the annual increments in the number of donations made were estimated and compared with the annual increments in the numbers of in-patients managed at the study hospital. The mean annual increment in the number of blood donations (4%) fell well below the mean annual increment in in-patient numbers (11%). The blood donations received at the hospital fell into four types: voluntary, family-replacement, commercial and pre-deposit autologous donations. Over the study period, the percentage of donations falling into the voluntary and family-replacement categories fell from 31% to 5% and from 49% to 23%, respectively. These falls were matched by increases in the percentages of donations categorised as commercial and autologous, which rose from 20% to 63%, and from 1% to 9%, respectively. By the end of the study period, the quantity of blood being donated at the hospital was grossly inadequate and predominantly derived from family and commercial donors, who were found to be generally inferior, in terms of blood safety, to voluntary donors. There is an urgent need to rectify this situation by setting up a functional and national blood-transfusion service in Nigeria.