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Africa News Service 26-SEP-97 Lusaka (Times of Zambia, September 26, 1997) - A few months ago UTH consultant Professor Chifumbe Chintu stood by helplessly and watched a young woman whose life could have been saved by blood transfusion die because her religious beliefs forbade her from undergoing one. This was after he had unsuccessfully sent people to look for alternative bloodless remedies to her complication which are acceptable to the woman's Watchtower church. "We stood by and watched her die. It was terrible but because we had no alternatives we just had to watch her die," Prof Chintu said. He said there is nothing as psychologically traumatizing to medical personnel than to stand by and watch patients whose lives they could have saved die because their faith precludes them from taking transfusions. He added: "To see someone die when you know in your heart that there is something you could do is bad. It is better for someone to become a sinner (by accepting a transfusion) because that person can later repent and be forgiven by God ". Prof Chintu was speaking at a discussion organized by the Medical Journal Club on the safety of blood transfusions and the Jehovah's Witnesses' anti-blood transfusion stance. Mr. Edward Finch of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Hospital Information desk said the church's rejection was derived from religious beliefs and was non-negotiable. He appealed to people to respect that "We expect non-blood medical management. Our study of the Bible has brought us to this conclusion and this is not negotiable. We will go to doctors who respect our beliefs. If they don't they should tell us and we will go to other doctors who will respect our beliefs". Mr. Finch said it was regrettable that a lot of people thought Watchtower church members were a "crazy " lot who preferred to see their children die than allow them to go through a transfusion. This, he said, was far from the truth because if they wished their members death they could not in the first place take them to hospital. Queried on which part of the Bible speaks against blood transfusions for believers, Mr. Finch pointed to Acts 15 verse 29 which reads : "Abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these things you will do well. Farewell." Arising from that verse, the church has come up with special forms which its members who are admitted to hospital sign to affirm their refusal of blood transfusions. The form reads in part: "My refusal of blood or blood components is absolute and not to be overridden in ANY circumstances by a purported consent of a relative or other person or body. Such refusal remains in force even though I may be unconscious and/or affected by medication, stroke or other conditions rendering me incapable of expressing my wishes and consent to treatment options and the doctor treating me considers that such refusal may be life threatening" But one doctor disagreed with the church's stand on transfusions saying there was nowhere in the scriptures where God or Jesus spoke against blood transfusions. She interpreted abstaining from blood as stated in Acts 15 verse 29 to have meant that people should have nothing to do with anyone who had killed (spilled) blood. She claimed that a doctor or nurse who saved a patient through a blood transfusion was better than a Christian who stood aside and watched a patient die because of religious beliefs only to utter 'may your soul rest in peace' afterwards. Dr Peter Mwaba accused the church of indirectly of contributing to the high death rate of its Third World members who have no access to alternative remedies to a transfusion as compared to the Western flock who these are readily available. He added that by virtue of being poor, Watchtower members in Africa cannot even afford the alternative remedies, thus making them more susceptible to death than Jehovah's Witnesses in the West. Mr. Finch: "Everyone in Zambia is disadvantaged when it comes to medical care. There are not enough drugs in our shops. So it is not true to say it is only Watchtower members disadvantaged because of expensive alternative s". Dr Mwaba: "The rich Jehovah's Witnesses should donate alternative medicines to fellow members in Africa". Mr. Finch said it was erroneous to assume that every member of the church in the West was rich because some of them were poor. He conceded however that something could be arranged for Watchtower church members and proposed discussions between medical practitioners, the church and authorities at the Ministry of Health. He argued however that the members of his church being taxpayers had the right to receive alternative remedies to blood transfusions and dismissed the notion that blood was cheaper that other alternatives, citing the expensive tests used to determine the purity of the blood. Dr Edward Mwinda,director of the Zambia National Blood Transfusion Service (ZNBTS) told the gathering that transfusions were not entirely safe as they could lead to infectious diseases HIV, Hepatitis, Malaria and other infections. He said a negative aspect of each transfusion was that they suppressed the immune systems of the body. Another factor that could lead to complications was when someone is given blood that is not compatible to his blood group. But to ensure that only safe blood is stored there was a deliberate policy to target groups that are less vulnerable to infectious diseases for donations. Emphasis had also been placed on accurate laboratory testing of all blood samples. The national policy also required collected blood to undergo certain compatibility tests. But to minimize the risks of patients receiving contaminated blood from donors it is possible for patients to prepare themselves for the "rainy day" by donating their own blood for future use in what is called 'autologous' transfusions. A donor's blood would be safely stored in the hospital until the time when they needed it. Another form of 'autologous' transfusion involves collection of blood being lost from a patient and channeling it back into the blood stream. While doctors admit that blood transfusions can lead to infections, they are also unanimous that loss of blood, if not quickly corrected, can lead to death within a few hours. Dr Soka Nyirenda explained that when there was massive loss of blood the little that remains in the body is diverted to vital organs like the brain, heart and liver. There is however a danger that unless the blood that is diverted from the other less vital parts of the body is quickly replenished, body tissues in those parts will die. While blood transfusions may not be entirely safe the question that should be answered by those unwilling to accept them is whether refuse to accept transfusions and risk immediate death or undergo and hope to live for many more years. These are individual choices that doctors are sworn to respect. By Martin Wamunyima Copyright 1997 Times of Zambia. Distributed via Africa News Online. |