Jakarta scalpers cash in on low blood supply

Jakarta scalpers cash in on low blood supply

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"What blood type are you looking for, sir? If you need some blood, I can give you mine. But of course it is not free."

"Oh, how much?"

"Rp 100,000 a bag (of 250 cc of blood). How many bags do you need?"

It was an opening line from a blood seller to a potential buyer on one evening last week in the Greater Jakarta Blood Transfusion Center at Jl. Kramat Raya 47, Central Jakarta.

Sellers and scalpers were there because they knew that the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in Jakarta had a shortage in its blood supply.

This December, PMI can only meet 70 percent of the monthly demand for blood in the city because during the Ramadhan fasting month, between Nov. 6 and Dec. 6, people were reluctant to donate.

PMI Public Relations Officer Jeffrey Caunang said last week that during the Muslim fasting month, the number of donors dropped by almost 50 percent from the usual monthly average. PMI could only provide 23,000 blood bags while the monthly demand reached 30,000 bags.

To keep reserve stocks available, PMI had, since the first day of Ramadhan, required people in need of blood to bring a donor or donors of any blood type to replace the blood they took from the stock available.

If there was no stock available they had to bring their own direct donors with the same blood type as requested. In some cases the donors' blood needed to be processed before it was ready for use.

These procedures took time, which meant playing longer with lives at stake.

Cecep, a 25-year-old man, had lined up for two blood bags one night last week for his sister-in-law, who had just had a caesarean operation.

To attain it, he had to donate his blood as a substitute and wait three hours to get processed blood in return. He was lucky PMI had the blood he requested in stock, otherwise he would have to wait for another 10 hours, but his sister in-law needed it immediately.

Jeffrey said the requirement for blood substitutes was the best that the PMI could do, but it was still not sufficient to meet the demand. The situation is likely to continue until the end of December, Jeffrey said.

He said the same problem occurs every fasting month and PMI has not found a solution for it.

Actually, PMI has tried to anticipate the problem by stocking up on blood supplies months before Ramadhan. However, it is still not enough because PMI could only increase its stock by 15 percent. Worse, with the technology that is currently on-hand, blood can be stored for only 28 days on average.

He suggested that the only solution was to hold a systematic, integrated and consistent campaign to encourage more people to become regular blood donors, especially during Ramadhan.

He reminded the public that the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) had decreed that donating blood while fasting is permitted. Better yet, it was recommended because it was a good deed. The public should be informed of this decree to increase the monthly donations to prevent similar shortages in the future.

Normally, a supply of 30,000 blood bags per month is adequate, but in case of an emergency it would be far from enough, he added.

The fact is that the ratio of three blood donors for every 1,000 residents in Jakarta per month is still far from adequate. It is a very low ratio as compared to 14:1,000 in Malaysia, 24:1,000 in Singapore and 48:1,000 in Japan.

However, such a shortage is seen as an opportunity by some people. In the Greater Jakarta Blood Transfusion Center, last week, some blood sellers and scalpers were seen.

For a fee, they offered their blood or a service to find blood sellers.

Ali, a 45-year-old man, for example, offered his A-type blood for Rp 100,000 a bag. He said that he only did such a thing once a year, especially in the post-Lebaran season, when the blood supply was low. His price did not include the official service fee from PMI.

For each 250 cc blood bag, PMI charges a service fee of Rp 130,000 on patients from private hospitals and Rp 65,000 on those from state hospitals. The fee covers PMI's operational costs for the fatal diseases screening test, blood processing, medical tools, etc.

Blood scalpers have been known to put their prices up even higher than the direct sellers', ranging from Rp 500,000 up to Rp 1 million a bag. The scalpers often harass a person who looks desperate for blood, sometimes in a rude manner, Jeffrey said.

Therefore, his office had asked the police to deploy officers to prevent such a thing from happening.

Blood sellers and scalpers are harmful to all parties involved. The seekers suffer financial loss and risk of disease, and the sellers could lose their lives. Last year, for instance, a seller died after selling his blood every two days. He died because of complications resulting from an extremely low hemoglobin (red blood cell) count.

Jeffrey said PMI had tried to prevent blood selling and scalping by identifying donors and prohibiting them from donating their blood more than once in three months. The organization also put up some banners and announcements to inform the public of the disadvantages of using the scalpers' services.

Again, the only way to solve these problems was to have more people donate their blood regularly, he said.

That was in line with PMI's slogan saying,"The blood you donate may save a life. It might be yours or your loved ones'."