Blood prices increase by alarming margin

The new blood prices have shocked most people and would mean that the vast majority of the civil service, including doctors, cannot afford to buy a single unit of blood with their full monthly salaries.A single unit of blood is now going for a massive ZWL$ 10, 150. This translates to a price of approximately US$125 (ZAR 2 125) per unit of blood on the streets.

The situation on blood donations has been worsened by the fact that most blood comes from school kids and with the current lockdown there is a dire shortage of blood. This has led to an increased demand of blood hence the ridiculous amounts being charged.

The minimum salary for most people employed by the government currently stands at ZWL$2 450. This translates to approximately US$30 (ZAR510) per month. This means that a government worker will need to go for at least 4 months without spending any of their salaries in order to afford a single unit of blood.

So sad is the situation that most people are dying failure to raise funds to buy blood. The situation has caused untold suffering for many people. Blood has become very scarce and most public hospitals do not have it.

Farmworkers, on the other hand, are even worse off despite getting a 118 per cent salary increase only last month. With the increase, the lowest-paid farmworker now earns ZWL$1,200 per month while the highest-paid farmworker earns a minimum of $2,400 per month. To put these figures into perspective, ZWL$ 1 200 translates to US$15 (R250) per month on the streets while ZWL$2 400 to translates to just US$30 (R500) per month.However, the situation is even bleaker for the majority of the population which is not formally employed and who constitute the informal sector.