Ago-Okota Private Hospital in the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area has been closed down by the Lagos State Government because it admitted and administered unscreened, unlabeled blood to patients without their knowledge.
This was announced by Dr. Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, the Director of Public Affairs for the State Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on Sunday on behalf of Bodunrin Osikomaiya, the executive secretary of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service (LSBTS).
According to Osikomaiya, the LSBTS and the state Health Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency sealed the facility after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen.
“Following the tip-off, and after thorough investigations, the enforcement teams of LSBTS and HEFAMAA, during their joint monitoring exercise in the area, visited the facility and confirmed to be true, the unwholesome, unprofessional, and unethical medical practices and conduct of the hospital management,” Osikomaiya said.
She stated that the facility was shut down as a result of transfusion service law violations, unethical and unprofessional medical practices, and endangering the lives of unknowing patients.
“The law states that no person within Lagos State shall transfuse blood into a patient unless such blood has been screened, tested, labelled by the state blood transfusion committee, and found to be negative for all transmissible diseases, including HIV I and II, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis, and any other disease as may be deemed necessary by LSBTS,” she added.
The executive secretary claimed that the hospital’s administration had provided information on the blood donors and transfusion recipients.
She said that as part of the protocol, patients who received unscreened blood units at the facility were being tracked down to find out their clinical health status and guarantee their safety.
Osikomaiya emphasized that legal action would be taken against the management of the hospital and any employees who were discovered to have taken part in the improper act.
She went on to say that the agency had changed its strategies for sanitizing the state against immoral blood transfusion and that it was still fighting the harmful practice of transfusing unscreened blood in the state.
Osikomaiya encouraged people to report any violations and unwholesome behavior they saw in order to aid the fight against unwholesome blood transfusion.
She also pleaded with medical professionals and others involved in the blood transfusion chain, including blood banks, donation centers, and logistics firms, to strictly adhere to state blood transfusion laws and the guidelines established by the World Health Organization regarding blood donation, collection, and transfusion.
