Editorial
Ensure medication for RBC antibody screening is available, affordable
According to a recent study, the lack of routine RBC antibody screening in the majority of hospitals is a factor in newborn fatalities, preterm deliveries, and stillbirths.
RBC antibody screening is a blood test which is essential for blood transfusions and pregnancy because it looks for antibodies that can destroy foreign red blood cells.
Based on the recent research, Dr. (Mrs.) Lilian Antwi Boateng, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Medical Diagnostics at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, estimates that these disorders occur at rates of 1.2 percent, 37.3 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively.
Despite the fact that two injections administered during pregnancy and soon after delivery can virtually completely prevent sensitisation almost entirely, access remains limited. Furthermore, many women are left unprotected since the medication, which costs roughly GH₵750 each dose, is either unavailable or too expensive.
The cost of screening for RBC is affecting expectant mothers as most of them cannot afford to undergo the screening. As a result many babies are at risk of preventable complications and death.
It is therefore not a surprise that, according to the study, only 49 per cent of eligible mothers had received the injections, far below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 100 per cent coverage.
The WHO recommends that RBC antibody screening should be a routine part of pre-transfusion testing and antenatal screening to ensure blood safety and prevent alloimmune complications. Alloimmune complications are adverse effects that occur when the body’s immune system attacks foreign cells, such as those from a different person or during pregnancy.
In view of that, health experts have called for urgent reforms: routine antenatal RBC antibody screening, enforcement of national protocols for RhD immunoprophylaxis, and inclusion of anti-D immunoglobulin in the National Health Insurance Scheme. They also recommend training healthcare providers to detect and manage maternal antibodies.
The Spectator is making a passionate appeal to the government to urgently include the cost of screening of RBC antibodies among others in the National Health Insurance, for every baby deserves the chance to be born healthy.
