Blood Donation and Related in Egypt

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Hafiz
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Blood Donation and Related in Egypt

Post by Hafiz »

Blood Donation.

Its chaos, full of corruption, the Ministry of Health couldn’t care less and the blood that is available is often infected with HepC or worse. Egypt may hold a world record in this area – as a Muslim country that holds charity at its center it gives blood at the lowest level in the partially developed world. Its religion does not seem to translate into action except in the worst sense and the same could be said of the Copts. I leave it to your imagination whether rich Muslims want only Muslim blood.

At about 1% Egypt blood donation rates are about 1/8th of the donation rates for similar countries although the Major General led stats agency CAPMAS says its much higher but hasn't invented the stats to prove it.. http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheet ... ailability.

The blood collection agencies are in order of size – the National Blood Transfusion Service (no information available on it nor on its management/leadership) an agency of the noxious Ministry of Health that has had the objective for more than a decade of integrating all blood collection into one system and screening out contaminated blood – has failed on both badly, the Red Crescent of Egypt which seems to operate as a withered arm of the state and do crazy irrelevant things as well, third, some notable private initiatives like that of Ahmed Zaghloul (who may have left the country) which the state hates because it implicitly criticizes their efforts and fourth illegal and money making ‘collection systems’. Private hospitals like the Dr. Mohamed Shabrawichy Hospital in Giza also collect blood but that must be in small volumes with dubious commercial aspects to it including trading. https://www.madamasr.com/en/2015/06/14/ ... -of-blood/.

There is also a government agency VACSERA with a staff of thousands which does little, possibly nothing, and is mentioned below. It claims to make vaccines, I can’t fund any, and its skills in blood collection seem zero. It seems to operate with the other blood companies in the standard Egyptian organizing principle – no clear roles or responsibilities leading to confusion.

Some foundations from outside Egypt like the UAE Takatof Foundation are into increasing voluntary donations to blood, probably to the government system, but their efforts seem small compared with country wide incompetence.

If you are upper middle or upper class everything is perfect but if you are not you are in trouble. The upper classes are a max of 10 million out of nearly 100 million but their happiness is essential to junta survival.

Whether the system is ‘clean’ is a state secret to be withheld from everyone – Jews in particular. In 2013 an academic study said that 4% od blood was Syphilis and HIV positive and over 4% HepC but of course these Egyptian academics (all Cairo University at the time but maybe missing now) are Brotherhood terrorists and spreading lies about Egypt – 10 years prison, 15 if you can get a ‘good’ judge. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access ... ?aid=22486. This is not inconsistent with other later studies. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf ... /trf.13061. What is not clear from these studies is the adequacy of the system, if a system exists, to screen out contaminated donated blood or contaminated blood gets used. Other studies, posted by me on HepC some time ago, indicate the screening is hopeless and a large number get HepC a year from bad blood – but nothing changes.

The huge fresh yearly transmission of HepC via dialysis machines raises lots of questions including about AIDS – I wonder whether anyone keeps an eye on this or beats the doctors and nurses to sterilize the machines. Similar issues arise in relation to syringes and in late 2016 doctors were ordered (possibly system wide) to reuse syringes and a Doctors Syndicate leader, Dr Mona Mina, (formerly elected Secretary General and head of this) went public on this following which she was charged with "disturbing security and social order, spreading panic among citizens, and defaming the state." https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egyp ... -563330778. In 1993 carelessness/laziness led to 63 AIDS infections from syringes.

For a country obsessed with ruthless central control its like a lot of their other central control – incompetence, red-tape and mayhem – except for the rich – covered up with propaganda.

How it works is madness. Its difficult to know what it means at the individual level because if you complained you might go to jail but a pop singer, Hisham Khrama, in 2013, a person with money, found himself in a major Cairo hospital with his sick uncle who needed blood and faced with 2 things. The demand that the blood be paid for before administered and second dealing with a ‘Blood mafia’ (his words) who would acquire it.

His story sounds like something out of 18th century London and he went on to establish an internet system for sourcing blood to cut out the money makers. Whether his initiative was successful as a single person trying to fight institutional corruption could be doubted but what cannot be doubted is that it’s the Red Crescent (heavily western funded) that is responsible for blood in Egypt and it has failed as it has everywhere else – including in Yemen where the Red Cross handles things as it does in Palestine. http://www.shamengo.com/en/pioneer/171-hisham-kharma.

If there is a single good thing the Red Crescent has done in 80 years please post. Its Egypt Board is dominated by the government (no Red Cross Board would ever allow that) and pathetic primary school teachers in private schools, a complete nobody representing Upper Egypt and a general approach unlike community organizations everywhere in the world – don’t talk to people listen only to the minister.

Their physical activity is close to comatose and their priorities are currently Avian Flu – which hit Egypt in 2006, Road Safety (which is only indirectly a health matter) and child Labor (which is not a priority health matter). Their last, and only, press release was 2013 and their last physical activity was in 2016 to celebrate the Prophet’s Birthday which is odd because I’m sure he would execute them for failing the poor. They run courses on tailoring, sewing, knitting and lace making, besides blacksmithing and carpentry workshops. What low priority rot.

In Luxor it proudly claims it “provides the people with social, cultural, and entertaining services and trainings through its cultural and technological centers. It organizes health symposia to disseminate awareness among the governorate residents.” Pathetic given the raw health needs of the area.

Not a single company, Egyptian or western, gives them a penny but they harvest income from an unbelievably wide range of western aid agencies including the Catholic Church but not from any Islamic or Gulf organizations. Al Azhar doesn’t give them a penny.

These creatures operate only 5 blood centers in Egypt - Cairo, Alexandria, Tanta, Qena, and Damanhur. They produce no report, set of priorities, budget of financial accounts nor a statement of the number of employees nor the actual number of members or volunteers.

Its clear that its overwhelmingly a man’s world, as the whole world is, from this group photo from the Red Cresent website of which they are proud – spot the women.

Image obviously none of the three are Copts.

The Red Cross tries to talk to al Azhar on humanitarian issues but why would you bother given they refuse to expel ISIS and have a senior female professor who advocates Muslim soldiers raping female non-Muslim civilians on the enemy side.
https://www.worldcrunch.com/blog/why-bl ... y-in-egypt

Blood donations are another government run program that for 70 years has been hugely successful – in concealing its failure in a one party media propaganda state.

The donating of blood may be against basic Egyptian values which also denigrate volunteerism as either a way of securing advantage or a sign that the volunteer/donor lacks financial ambition. These Egyptian views on volunteerism have been identified by the UN in very recent focus groups. https://www.unv.org/sites/default/files ... 0final.pdf page 65. Such views are also found in 3rd world migrant groups in Europe. I find the UN figures for Egyptian volunteerism suspicious and government propaganda but even the propaganda shows Egypt a selfish society compared with other poor and rich, Muslim and not, societies.

All is to change, unlikely, because new smart self destructing syringes are to be manufactured in Egypt by, wait for it, Egypt's Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) and the Ministry of Military Production. VACSERA is a front, its only facility is a down town office which is unlikely to be a Pharma. factory, it conceals information on its Board, all staff and any numbers on activity, runs part of the disastrous Blood Bank system, it says it does research but mentions nothing and I can find nothing it has published, claims experience in products for animals but doesn’t list a single product it produces for humans or animals. Its just a lazy self-important importer and doesn’t even list its imports. Its website contains information about its ‘priorities’ which include the following - wheat allergy/warnings or the health problems in the resorts/Rh injections for pregnant women (which seems to be technically but seriously in error and gives advice to the financial advantage of doctors) – its another pathetic government body that does little beyond consuming money.

A side story and a dirty one. Like all dirty stories in Egypt it involves a Mubarak. Hani Sorour became a medical manufacturing king in Egypt in the 2000’s in the normal way like his friend the deeply corrupt steel tycoon Ezz, had membership of the NDP and its Policy Secretariat that, under Gamal Mubarak and its 700 taxpayer funded NDP staff, were 'modernizing' the economy. Unfortunately like most others, particularly in Egyptian manufacturing, anything more complex than manufacturing wind was a problem. Part of his business manufactured blood bags which he incompetently fill with viruses and bacteria that poisoned people – at least 300,00 of these defective bags.

He did what all great, heroic Egyptians do – fled the country to his overseas residence where all his money was stored and left his staff to face criminal charges. Extradition was never sought by Egypt. He was well trained in the Egyptian Army to face all dangers. Danger came and he was convicted, following which on appeal he was acquitted – as is always the case with rich Egyptians and the great Egyptian court system. His staff were convicted.

The media reported at the time that there was a big reduction in blood donations and a major increase in importation of overseas blood products. Another Gamal Mubarak success story. There were no al Ahram reports of deaths/illness from the donees or compensation to them – as if you can sue a rich man in the Egyptian courts for negligence or civil damages for criminal behavior. I’m sure there was damage done – maybe the Brotherhood or western perverts did the damage. https://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com ... t-man.html and http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/Archive/2007/828/eg4.htm


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