肯尼亚的血液短缺：摆脱对援助的依赖(下)

In 2019 America stopped writing cheques as part of a long-running programme to wean African countries off their dependence on aid for their blood services.

2019年，美国不再为这项长期计划提供资金，目的是让非洲国家摆脱对血液服务援助的依赖。

It had successfully done so in countries including Ethiopia and Tanzania, where governments picked up the full tab for their blood banks between 2014 and 2016.

它在埃塞俄比亚和坦桑尼亚等国成功地做到了这一点，这些国家的政府在2014年至2016年期间承担了本国血库的全部费用。

But in Kenya the government's share of spending on transfusion centers declined.

但在肯尼亚，政府在血液中心的支出有所下降。

Money problems were exacerbated when covid-19 struck in 2020.

2020年新冠肺炎爆发后，资金问题进一步加剧。

With schools closed, blood drives cancelled and people urged to avoid mixing, donations slumped.

由于学校停课，献血活动取消，人们被敦促保持社交距离，献血量大幅下降。

Between July 2019 and June 2020 Kenya's transfusion centers collected just 164,000 units, against an estimated need of 470,000-1m units.

2019年7月至2020年6月，肯尼亚的输血中心仅收集了16.4万份血液，而预计需要的血液量是47万至100万份。

Yet the crisis also brought an emergency infusion of cash from the World Bank.

然而，这场危机也导致世界银行对其进行了紧急注资。

Of $50m in concessional money allocated to help Kenya battle COVID, $10m was earmarked for improving its blood-transfusion infrastructure, including 15 new blood banks (taking the total to 45) and frequent blood drives.

在分配给肯尼亚用于抗击新冠肺炎的5000万美元优惠资金中，有1000万美元专门用于改善其输血基础设施，包括新建15个血库（使总血库数量达到45个）以及举行更多献血活动。

It is paying off.

这些付出得到了回报。

In the 12 months to June 2022, Kenya collected 348,000 units of blood.

截至2022年6月的12个月里，肯尼亚收集了34.8万个单位的血液。

However, Kenya's reliance on concessional funding still leaves its blood banks in a precarious position: another sudden cut could once again leave Kenya anaemic, though with luck new blood donors such as Ms Mwinyiusi will become regular givers.

然而，由于肯尼亚对优惠资金的依赖，其血库仍处于岌岌可危的境地：资金的突然减少可能会让肯尼亚再次“贫血”，幸运的是，有姆温尤西等新的献血者决定开始定期献血。

"The good thing about donating blood," she says, "is that we are helping reduce the number of people suffering from high to low."

“献血的好处是，”她说，“我们能够让更多人摆脱血液短缺带来的病痛折磨。”