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Funds stoppage threatens accuracy of blood tests
The Makassar branch of the Indonesian Red Cross's (PMI) Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) will use rapid tests to screen blood, rather than the current enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) method, which is more accurate but more costly, after the Health Ministry cut off its funding
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The Makassar branch of the Indonesian Red Cross's (PMI) Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) will use rapid tests to screen blood, rather than the current enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) method, which is more accurate but more costly, after the Health Ministry cut off its funding.
The matter was disclosed during a recent spot inspection by Makassar Mayor Andi Herry Iskandar of the local PMI office.
Mardiani Radjuni, head of PMI Makassar's UTD, said her office was forced to cover the cost for the ELISA blood screening test, which costs Rp 27,465 (US$2.40) per test, since the funding were suspended.
"The ELISA method was paid for by the Health Ministry, while we paid for the rapid tests, which cost Rp 19,800 per test. But since Aug. 1 last year, we've had to cover the costs of both tests, thus affecting our expenditures, while our income is very limited," she said.
PMI Makassar had bought as many as 9,862 ELISA kits worth Rp 270.83 million and 1,492 rapid test kits worth Rp 29.64 million, bringing its total expenditure to Rp 300.47 million as of August last year.
The ELISA and rapid test methods are used to detect the presence of HIV in donated plasma. The ELISA method is the preferred one because it can detect the presence of antigens and antibodies in a sample, so its level of accuracy reaches nearly 100 percent, while the rapid test can only detect antibodies.
Mardiani said her office had so far only used the rapid test for replacement donors or relatives of patients who required blood transfusions, because it was cheaper, while it used the ELISA method for volunteer donors.
"We can still buy it ourselves, but our cash flow is very limited, so it's not possible for us to keep buying it; so we have to use the rapid test, which is cheaper, despite its lower accuracy," she said.
As of Thursday, supplies of ELISA and rapid test kits at PMI Makassar's UTD stood at 1,000 units, while the number of donors could reach up to 100 people daily, sometimes double that if donors come in groups.
To cover the budget shortage, PMI Makassar plans to raise the price of plasma up to 25 percent from the current price of Rp 185,000 per bag, in order to cover the costs for the blood screening kits and other equipment, for which the prices have also risen.
The blood screening kits are vital to ensure that blood transfusions to patients are sterile and free of HIV, because of the widespread number of cases last year where HIV-infected blood was donated. At the time, PMI Makassar's UTD found 19 HIV-infected samples after testing with the ELISA method.
Makassar Mayor Herry expressed his regret over the stoppage of funding from the Health Ministry, pointing out that the public would be made to suffer from the ministry's penny-pinching measures, either through the risk of receiving infected blood, or having to pay higher prices after PMI Makassar was forced to raise the price of plasma.
"This is very ironic - when community health needs to be improved and the spread of HIV/AIDS curbed and cheaper healthcare must be provided, the Health Ministry chooses instead to stop providing funds. This must be reviewed," Herry said.
