I. RATIONALE

Pursuant to Section 11 of Republic Act No. 7719 otherwise known as the National Blood Services Act of 1994, the Department of Health (DOH) shall promulgate rules and regulations which shall prescribe from time to time the maximum   ceiling   for  fees  for  the  provision   of  blood,   including   collection, processing and storage, professional services and a reasonable allowance for spoilage.

Accordingly,  the  DOH  issued  Administrative  Order  No.  2008-0008  or  the œRules  and Regulations  Governing  the Regulation  of Blood  Service  Facilities . Under this Administrative Order (A.O.), the Blood Service Facilities (BSFs) may collect a reasonable  service fee for every blood or blood product issued which shall not be greater  than the maximum  fees prescribed  by the Department  of Health (DOH). The National Voluntary Blood Services Program (NVBSP) shall periodically review the maximum allowable service fee specifying the basic requirements and special tests covered by the service fee.

In relation thereto, the National Voluntary Blood Services Program (NVBSP) conducted  a series of consultation  meetings to ascertain the cost of recovering the  expenses  of  blood  service  facilities  in  their  24-hour  operation  amidst  the increase in wages and price of reagents, blood bags and other supplies.

II. OBJECTIVE

This Administrative Order is intended to regulate blood service fees in accordance  with Section  8 of the National  Blood  Services  Act of 1994,  which states that, blood bank/center  shall operate on a non-profit basis, but they may be allowed to collect blood service fees not greater than the maximum prescribed by the DOH.

III. SCOPE/COVERAGE

The new maximum  allowable  blood service fees for the provision  of whole blood and blood components shall be applicable to all Blood Service Facilities in the Philippines,  be they  under  the national  government,  private,  Local Government Unit (LGU), and Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

IV. DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.     Blood  Components  - refers  to a blood  product  but not limited  to whole blood, red cells, granulocytes, plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryosupernate prepared in a Blood Service Facility.

2.     Blood  Service  Facilities - refer to Blood  Bank  (BB), Blood  Center  (BC), Blood Collecting Unit (BCU) and Blood Station (BS)

3.     Blood  Services  Network  - An  organization  composed  of the  designated Blood Centers, Hospital Blood Banks, Blood Stations, Blood Collecting Units and  End  User  Hospitals  established  to  provide  for  the  blood  needs  of  a specific geographical area.

4.     End User Hospital - a hospital with a licensed clinical laboratory capable of red  cell  typing  and  cross  matching  and  which  does  not  have  any  blood service  facility  but  which  only  receives  blood  and  blood  components  for blood transfusion as needed.

V. GENERAL GUIDELINES

1.     The  Department  of  Health  (DOH)  shall  set  the  following  new  maximum service fees to be collected by the Blood Service Facilities, to wit:

Whole Blood	Ph p 1 , 800 . 0 0
Packed Red Blood Cell s	Ph p 1 , 500 . 0 0
Otherbloodcom ponen ts ( P l a t e l et Concen tr a t e, F r es h F r oze n Plasma, C r yop r ec i p it a te & C r yosupe r na t e )	Ph p 1 , 000 . 0 0

2.     The blood service fee shall cover the following expenses:

2.1 Donor Recruitment/Screening

2.2 Blood Collection from Voluntary Blood Donors

2.3 Testing   for   Transfusion   transmissible   Infections   (TTIs)   and   Other
Screening Tests: Hemoglobin, Blood Typing, Vital signs etc.

a.     Hepatitis B Virus (by EIA or Chemiluminescenes);

b.    Hepatitis C Virus (by EIA or Chemiluminescenes);

c.    HIV (by EIA or Chemiluminescenes);

d.    Malaria   Parasite   (by   EIA   or   thick   and   thin   blood   smear   or Quantitative Buffy Coat Method);

e.    Treponema    pallidum    (by   Rapid   Plasma    Reagent    (RPR)   or Treponema pallidum hemaglutination Test).

2.4 Component preparation; and

2.5 General/Administrative    expenses   for   the   preparation   of   the   blood products.

VI. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES/IMPLEMENTING MECHANISMS

1.     The Blood Service Facility shall post in the designated  public area (outside the Laboratory or Blood Bank) either in English or in Vernacular, the details of the Blood Service Fee as stated below:

a.)  œBlood is Free 

The Blood Service Fee covers the following procedures:

Testing for:
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis C
HIV
Syphilis and Malaria

Other screening test:
Hemoglobin Blood typing
Vital signs

b.)  No other fees related to Blood Services shall be collected from the patient/relatives of the patient (deposits, blood bond or non- replacement  fee  - payment  for  units  of  blood  or  blood  products when the patient or relatives of patient cannot bring Voluntary Non- remunerated Blood Donors).

2.     Expenses for the transfusion related procedures shall be separate from the foregoing basic service fees for the provision of whole blood and blood components.  These expenses shall be charged and indicated on separate receipts.

3.     No honorarium fee shall be given to the blood donors.

4.     Documented  complaints  and violations  shall be forwarded  or addressed  to the Department of Health - Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau (DOH-HFSRB)   or  to  the   Regional   Offices,   Office   of  the   Director   for appropriate action.

VII. PENALTY CLAUSE

In accordance to Section 12 of R.A. No. 7719, any blood bank/center which shall collect charges and fees greater than the maximum prescribed by the DOH shall have its license suspended or revoked by the Secretary of Health.

Any person or persons who shall be responsible for the above violation shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than one (1) month nor more than six (6) months, or a fine of not less than Five Thousand pesos (P5,000.00)  nor more than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00), or both at the discretion of the competent court.

VIII. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE

Any provision or part of this A.O. which may be declared unauthorized or rendered  void  by  any  judicial  authority  or  competent  authority,  the  provision which are not affected by such declaration shall remain valid and effective.

IX. REPEALING CLAUSE

These  rules  and  regulations  shall  repeal  and  supersede  all administrative orders and previous issuances inconsistent thereto, including but not limited to Administrative  Order  No. 18, s. 1998  dated  May  13, 1998  and  Administrative Order No. 181, s. 2002 dated December 5, 2002.

X. EFFECTIVITY

These   rules   and   regulations   shall   take   effect   fifteen   (15)   days   after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.