By Irene Gaitirira
Published February 19, 2020
A medical device created for patients suffering from internal bleeding resulting from trauma, ruptured ectopic pregnancies, or for use in planned surgeries has been introduced to Africa.
Known as Hemafuse, the surgical auto-transfusion device that can be used in both emergencies and scheduled procedures to recover blood from where it pools inside of a patient, into a blood bag, where it is immediately available to be re-transfused back to that same patient, has been introduced in Kenya and Ghana
Hemafuse, a device that can be used in cases where there is no donor blood available, is said to have been endorsed by Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta, Kenya’s First Lady, during her Beyond Zero Medical Safari held at Uhuru Park in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on January 25, 2020.
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“Blood is a matter of life and death, the impact of this device is saving lives that could have been lost due to lack of blood,” said Dr Elizabeth Wala, Programme Director for Health Systems Strengthening at Amref Health Africa in Kenya, during the launch of Hemafuse. “Achieving [Universal Health Coverage] requires innovations for essential medicines and health technologies that save lives. Hemafuse should be part of the essential medical devices in each hospital.”
Wala said Hemafuse, a preferred option over donor blood, had been approved by the regulator Kenya Pharmacy and Poison Board.
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Hemafuse, that is reported to be in use in 10 hospitals across Kenya, is being rolled out in Ghana, where it said to have already been used to save lives in cases of ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
Dr Gerald Osei-Owusu, a Medical Officer at Tema General Hospital, describes Hemafuse as “something we should use nationally and continentally” as “it makes life easier, work easier, and costs less.”
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Proponents of Hemafuse say using this device from Maryland in USA ‘to recycle a patient’s own blood saves the donor blood that is available for other patients who are not candidates for autotransfusion’.
They further say that ‘autotransfusion reduces the risk of infection and disease transmission because using a patient’s own blood is safer than someone else’s’.