Health and we will take care of your family’s health “.
Chandanagar: The Rotary club of Hyderabad on Sunday organized blood camp at Chandanagar to support and save the lives of children suffering from Thalassaemia. More than 45 people donated blood including three women. Gurpal Singh, organizer of the blood donation camp said, “I have been doing these blood donation camps from more than 15 years. Earlier, we used to donate in Jamshedpur. After shifting to Hyderabad we started organizing camps here at Chandanagar. Every three months we donate blood to the children. In Hyderabad this is for the first time we are conducting the blood donation camp now we will continue it regularly for every three months”. When the patient is suffering from thalassaemia they need blood for every 15 to 20 days and in Hyderabad there are 2,500 children suffering from thalassaemia. After collecting the blood we submit it to the thalassaemia blood bank. Minimum of 30 to 40 donors needed for the camp every three months. Blossom International school is also inspired by the blood donation camp today happened at Chandanagar and would like to organize the blood donation camps in the schools as well.
A consultant hematologist/acting executive secretary, Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, has decried the dearth of blood in the country’s blood banks.
Dr. Osikomaiya spoke during a blood donation ceremony organised by the Rotary Club of Lagos, Palm Grove Estate, in partnership with Rotary District 9110, Securisk Insurance Brokers Limited and Indian communities at Palmgrove Estate in Ilupeju, Lagos. Many Nigerians now pay lip service to the humanitarian act of donating blood voluntarily, she lamented.
“While a lot of Nigerians pay lip service to the humanitarian submission of donating blood in spite of the World Health Organisation (WHO) directive that at least one percent of the population of every country would always need blood, hence the necessity for voluntary and regular blood donors. Few clubs of Rotary International, District 9110, comprising Lagos and Ogun states in conjunction with Indian communities in Lagos have decided to partner with Lagos State government and rid the blood bank in the state of the dearth of the essential human need,” she said.
According to Dr. Osikomaiya, more than 90 per cent of blood being donated in Lagos now is by husband donors or relatives of patients, which of course is in sharp contrast to voluntary and constant donors regarded to be the safest. She berated the existing system of husbands or relative of patients’ donation of blood, which she said is tantamount to coercion because without the pressing need of blood for their relatives, they too would probably not have submitted themselves to the exercise.
“This is like they are being forced to donate because their people need blood and this is not what we want. They are simply donating for personal reasons. What we want is voluntary and regular donation, which is the safest blood we need because such donors will not lie since it would have become their habit. Since they will often come, there will be regular pool of blood storage in case of emergency.
“Going by the disclosure of WHO that one percent of the total population would always be in need of blood, we would daily need 230 units of blood in Lagos State alone, going by the current population of about 23 million people in the state. This is where the partnership of Rotary International and Lagos State government is highly commendable as they have come to the rescue of a lot of people that need blood,” she said.
The hematologist, however, pleaded with Nigerians to emulate members of Rotary International and Indian community to submit themselves voluntarily to this humanitarian practice. Dr. Osikomaiya premised child mortality and maternal mortality on availability of blood in blood bank, adding that a lot of pregnant women had passed away because of lack of blood.
