Health
Lagos deepens blood transfusion safety
As part of efforts to deepen blood transfusion safety, the Lagos State Government has signed a five-year Blood Screening and Certification Concession Agreement with approved concessionaires.
The move, it said, was to strengthen blood safety, standardise screening processes and guarantee the availability of safe blood for patients across the state.
The agreement, signed at the Conference Room of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Alausa-Ikeja on Tuesday, is expected to improve technology-driven blood screening services in public health facilities.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, described blood as a “liquid organ” whose transfusion requires the highest level of medical precision and government oversight.
He said that blood transfusion remains one of the few critical public health services that cannot be left entirely to market forces due to its direct implications for patient safety and survival.
Abayomi explained that the state government had deliberately partnered with reputable concessionaires and globally recognised original equipment manufacturers to ensure that every unit of blood collected in Lagos is screened using internationally accepted standards capable of detecting transfusion-transmissible infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Syphilis.
According to him, advancing technology is helping to narrow the diagnostic “window period”, thereby reducing risks to recipients.
“We are working towards two goals simultaneously: meeting the growing demand for blood and ensuring that every unit carrying the Lagos State logo is safe.
“When people see that certification, they must have complete confidence that the blood has passed through the highest professional screening standards,” the commissioner said.
Abayomi also appealed to healthy residents to become regular voluntary blood donors, stressing that every donation represents a lifeline for mothers, newborns, accident victims, and other emergency patients.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Dayo Lajide, said the agreement would ensure every unit of blood used within the state’s health system is screened through reliable technology under approved standards and traceable processes.
She added that the initiative aligns with the health and environment pillar of the THEMES+ Agenda and Lagos’ aspiration to build a resilient 21st-century health system.
“The true success of this agreement will be measured by the quality, reliability and safety of services delivered to the people of Lagos,” she said.
Providing an overview of the concession arrangement, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, said the previous concession agreement expired in June 2023, making it necessary to develop a more structured, transparent and sustainable framework capable of addressing operational gaps that had emerged over the years.
Osikomaiya disclosed that the new agreement had expanded from a 15-page document to a detailed 97-page performance-based framework incorporating stronger legal, financial and operational safeguards.
She further revealed that the procurement process commenced in November 2024, with expressions of interest advertised publicly before a rigorous evaluation reduced nine prospective bidders to five successful concessionaires.
Under the agreement, she said, Roche Products Limited will provide fully automated World Health Organization-compliant screening systems through a reagent rental model, while Lagos will maintain regulatory oversight to ensure sustained quality, transparency and accountability throughout the five-year concession period.
Speaking on behalf of the concessionaires, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Banner Diagnostics, Adetunji Kolawole-Moradeyo, commended the state government for sustaining a blood screening initiative that began more than two decades ago.
Also, the General Manager of Roche Products Ltd, Roberto Taboada, pledged the company’s full commitment to the success of the initiative.
He said Roche’s direct presence in Nigeria, including its engineering workforce, warehousing and logistics infrastructure, would guarantee uninterrupted equipment maintenance, reagent supply and technical support for the blood screening programme.
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