A Retrospective Study of Directed Blood Donations in the Kasungu District of Malawi

Since the discovery of blood circulation and transfusion, there has been an insatiable demand for voluntary blood donations throughout the world. However, gathering blood donors has never been easy because eligible donors constitute only a fraction of the general population and are often reluctant to donate. This is especially challenging in underprivileged countries of sub-Saharan Africa such as Malawi whose nationally run blood transfusion service struggles to maintain hospital blood banks. As a result, hospitals turn to their local communities for directed donations. A retrospective analysis from January 2014 to June 2016 of directed blood donor data from two hospitals in the Kasungu District of Malawi was conducted. The analysis of 2134 donations was carried out with respect to sex, age, hemoglobin concentration, blood group, and presence of transfusion-transmissible infections. On average, donors were 30 years of age and predominately male. Blood group O+ constituted more than half of all directed blood donations. Ultimately, about one third of donations were unable to be utilized for transfusion.