Cancun, Q.R. — One of Cancun’s main hospitals has had its blood donation wing closed after officials found it without the proper health license. The area was shut by officials from the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) on June 23.
According to Carlos Ortiz Velázquez, the Director Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios for Quintana Roo, he told Channel 10 News that Cofepris personnel shut the blood bank inside the Galenia Hospital in Cancun due to a problem with his health license.
The state official said he did not have the exact data on the reason for the closure that Cofepris made, but that they arrived without notification. He said that the federal agency carries out verifications without notifying the local health authority, and that they are the only ones who are authorized to close blood banks.
Ortiz Velázquez explained that in Quintana Roo, there are eight blood banks registered with the National Center for Blood Transfusion, of which three are public and five private. In a public statement, Cofepris said that a total of 55 blood banks around the country were suspended for various irregularities.
The government agency reported that the heath inspections were done to guarantee the safety of blood banks in Mexico. Through operations, they have detected more than 120 establishments that did not have a valid health license and who incurred various irregularities.
To date, 55 of them have been suspended and three closed, which they agency detailed, are located in Michoacán, Puebla and Quintana Roo. The federal agency says establishments that did not comply with the requirements for their proper functioning have been suspended.
“They need to have a license and a health officer as well as include control in the detection of transmissible agents and perform serological tests,” Cofepris stated. “These measures are taken to avoid health risks for those who donate blood, patients and even the personnel who work in its facilities,” they added.
The surveillance operations are part of a verification day carried out by the Sanitary Operation and Sanitary Authorization commissions of Cofepris in coordination with the National Center for Blood Transfusion (CNTS).
It includes blood banks across the country and other related services that were previously poorly supervised.
