…urges Nigerians to embrace voluntary blood donation
From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
AS Nigeria joins rest of the world, Friday,to mark 2024 World Blood Donor Day, WBDD, amidst high food prices, health challenges, comatose health care facilities, malnutrition, disease outbreaks, high prevalence of viral diseases, collapsed health infrastructures, and voidable deaths, a non-profit organization, Haima Health Initiative, HHI, disclosed that Nigeria records a shortfall of about 73.3 per cent of blood need every year.
Speaking with on the issues surrounding blood donation in Nigeria and the need for every Nigerian to get involved in blood donation, especially the young people, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, HHI, Bukola Bolarinwa, disclosed that they have worked on improving the lives of over 2,000 patients in hospitals through voluntary safe blood donation from their registered blood donors, with over 3,000 registered blood donors, wherefore had collected over 2,700 pints of blood.
According to Bolarinwa, their esteemed lifesavers from different backgrounds have a huge impact on them and all their activities who make themselves available, so they can link them to patients in need of blood across hospitals in Nigeria.
She also added that mostly young people, especially university students and those serving the nation under the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, because they are more open-minded.
Meanwhile, the theme of the 2024 World Blood Donor Day, WBDD, is ‘20 years of celebrating giving: thank you blood donors!’.
It is held on June 14 every year. The event was organised for the first time in 2004, by four core international organizations: the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO) and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.
She said: “Mostly young people, especially university students and NYSC. The younger are more open minded about blood donation and do not believe all the wrong myths around blood that older generations do.
“Lagos State has the highest recorded number of blood donations for various reasons: the size of the population, the high number of healthcare facilities and the fact that a lot of it has a lot of our credited blood banks.
“The people that do not respond to the call for blood donation are often ignorant about the need for blood donors or sometimes do not know that blood donation is needed. In addition they may not know where or how to donate blood. Our organisation Haima exists to support people with the blood donation process.
“According to the National blood service commission, Nigeria gets only 27 per cent (500,000 pints) of its annual blood need from voluntary blood donors, leaving a shortfall of about 73.3 per cent of blood need every year. This causes needless trauma to patients and their families leading to delays in treatments and sometimes loss of life. ”
However, in her assertion over the low response by Nigerians to donate blood, she said, “Nigerians have lots of irrational fears surrounding blood donation, for example, they are scared that the process may be painful, that it creates a risk of infection, that they will fall sick after donating, that they do not have enough blood, or that it can affect their libido.”
“There are also traditional fears due to association of blood with rituals often promoted by Nollywood movies.
Meanwhile, according to her, “These fears can be overcome by education and more awareness by the government civil Society and healthcare organisations.
“Blood donation is painless and easy with most healthy Nigerians eligible to donate up to four times a year. There are really no side effects to blood donation, and several checks are done to make sure people are eligible before they can donate.
“If you are between18 and 65, and have no existing medical conditions or you are not taking medication, you are likely to be eligible, it only takes 10 minutes, and each donation has the potential to save up to three lives.
“Everyone would want blood to be available at a hospital if they were in an accident or emergency or if their loved one were receiving care. The only way blood is obtained is when someone donates it voluntarily.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC, honoured Haima Health Initiative with its prestigious award christened ‘Community Impact Award’ on the heels of relentless effort on blood donation drive, public awareness campaigns, mobilizing international support, health education and advocacy in promoting ‘Safe Blood’ in Lagos State.
”It is truly an honour for our work to be recognised. The passion for this cause has kept us motivated despite all the challenges that come with advocacy for blood donation. It is immensely gratifying to know that our efforts are being seen and felt by our partners and the patients we are supporting.
”So far, we have worked with the National Blood Service Commission in various States, and the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service for over six years. Their support is invaluable in collecting, storing and distributing the blood to patients in government and private hospitals.
”We would really like to see more partnerships with other government agencies in organising blood drives, encouraging their employees to give blood and promoting blood donation as a civic responsibility”, she added.