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IN the past few weeks we have witnessed an unjustified increase in the prices of many things, with basic commodity prices rising to unbelievable levels. Not to be outdone has been the price of pharmaceuticals and blood, which have shot through the roof to the extent that the majority of the people have found the going very tough. Blood is life and its cost has to be pegged at a level that makes it affordable to the majority of the people.

In recent times public and private hospitals have been charging $100 and $120 per pint of blood, respectively, and there is no doubt that lives have been lost owing to exorbitant prices. It is against this background that we applaud the Government for intervening to save lives, by introducing a subsidy to cushion patients. The introduction of the subsidy means that the price of a pint of blood has been reduced to $80, a price that brings the cost of blood in line with regional trends and make blood transfusion affordable.

The high cost of blood has for a long time been a matter of grave concern for both the Government and patients. At $100 and $120 per pint, the cost of blood has been beyond the reach of many people, especially in this harsh economic environment. It meant that some people have lost their lives as they could not afford the cost of blood transfusion yet everyone has the right to life.

We commend the Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa for showing that he represents a Government and a political party that has the interests of the people at heart by ensuring the price of blood is subsidised to make it affordable to the majority of the people. At previous price levels, it meant only the rich in our society would be able to buy blood to save their lives and the lives of their relatives while the generality of the people would just stare at death without a solution.

Government has said no to that and last week engaged the National Blood Services of Zimbabwe over pricing. Reducing the price to $80 per pint, while still a bit high, is a welcome relief to many people, especially as we get into the festive period when the demand for blood increases. We should never underestimate the importance of blood to life. We are nothing without it. Most of us only get to appreciate it when we or our relatives have to undergo blood transfusion. We have had countless cases of road accidents in which people have lost a lot of blood and would need blood transfusion. Making it affordable means many more lives are saved.

There are sad reports that some people have had to import blood and blood products from neighbouring countries because they could not afford the high cost. While this is against the law, the desperate patients’ quest for life obviously pushes them to do that. We hope that both the public and private hospitals would factor in the Government subsidy and ensure the price of blood is reduced by November 1 as announced by Dr Parirenyatwa yesterday.