Impact of COVID-19 on blood donation and supply in Africa.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread in Africa, unprecedented disruptions at all levels of human endeavours including healthcare delivery systems have been recorded. One of the major areas of healthcare systems affected is blood supply – a commodity needed for the survival of many patients. Blood and blood products such as cryoprecipitate, plasma, immune globulins, platelets, etc., are required for the management of medical conditions including but not limited to trauma, renal impairment, cancer, sickle cell anaemia, haemorrhagic shock, and other medical conditions related to acute or chronic loss of blood. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, health problems and accidents occur including maternal morbidities, malnutrition, blood-transmitted infectious diseases (HIV and AIDS, hepatitis C virus infection, hepatitis B virus infection, syphilis and anaemia-inducing infectious diseases such as malaria, which is particularly worse in rainy seasons in countries such as Malawi and Nigeria, kidney disease, liver disease, and cancer, etc.). Hence, blood donation shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are wrecking Africa’s already overwhelmed blood transfusion services and are a guaranteed threat to a positive patient outcome, particularly for children under the age of 5, who are the recipients of 54% of the 118.5 million blood collected in low-income countries. In countries that rely on voluntary blood donations, particularly from students, the trends of blood supply and donation are likely to decline in many other countries if the COVID-19 pandemic continues. This will consequently and adversely affect beneficiaries in various hospitals, particularly in countries whose sole blood donors are volunteers and students.