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Dear Rotarian friend,
You are a member of Global Network for Blood Donation and we congratulate you
Thank you kindly devote 3 minutes to respond to this short survey :
https://forms.gle/L8b4TR8U7FFHFhwC6
Its purpose is to better understand what you expect from our Rotary Action Group
We can then refine the strategic plan of our Rotary Action Group
Give blood, save life
Yours in Rotary
Jean-Claude BROCART
RC Toulouse-Ovalie, District 1700, France
Past-Governor 2004-2005
"Service Above Self" Award of Rotary International
President 2019/2021 of Global Network for Blood Donation (a Rotary Action Group)
International Coordinator of My Blood For Others
+33 6 09 18 36 19
Lim identified the awardee-barangays as Pasonanca which collected 636 units of blood; Santa Maria, 532 units; Baliwasan, 496 units; Tetuan, 439 units; Guiwan, 232 units; Ayala, 219 units; Divisoria, 200 units; Talon-Talon, 186 units; Cabatsngan,172 units; and Labuan, 168 units. The recipient villages, represented by their respective barangay chairmen, received their awards from Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Kibtiya Uddin and Dr. Armando Lorenzo, president of the Rotary Club of Zamboanga.
According to Lim, the reward aims at giving “due recognition to the untiring efforts of barangay officials in helping alleviate the plight of their constituents in the area of health” even as it also encourages and motivates other communities that are not yet conducting blood donation activities. The Zamboanga City Blood Council, headed by reelected Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, was created by City Ordinance 336, which was enacted on July 24, 2008 and approved on August 8 in the same year. The ordinance, Lim said, sought “to institutionalize the provisions of National Blood Services Act of 1994 designed to promote voluntary blood donation, to provide adequate supply of safe blood and to fully implement Department of the Interior and Local Government Circular No. 96-6 mandating the integration of the voluntary blood donation services and program into the local financial work plan and budget as an added function of the LGU’s health board.”
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.
Community members recently donated 233 pints of blood to Carter BloodCare for the Battle of the Badges Community Blood Drive — Weatherford fire versus police — to help with blood supply shortages.
The Weatherford Fire Department came out in the lead following the drive.
“It was a great year for Battle of the Badges. I believe we set a record on the total number of pints collected in the blood drive and that is the true objective in this ‘battle.’ Many people need to be recognized for their efforts. Ronn Hunn [Rotary Club] did an awesome job leading the group of organizers. Thanks to Rotary Club of Weatherford, Surepoint Emergency Center, South Main Church of Christ, Lakeshore Baptist Church, Golden Moon, Weatherford Democrat, Shep’s Place and North Side Baptist Church,” Weatherford Fire Chief Paul Rust said. “Also, special thanks to [Weatherford] Police Chief Lance Arnold. Chief Arnold has a passion to serve our community and he is a great friend. It is always fun to team up with him to promote a great cause for our community. Together we are committed to doing our part in building a strong community.”
The total number of pints per location were Surepoint Emergency Center, 14; South Main Church of Christ, 19; Lakeshore Baptist Church, 7; Golden Moon, 17; Weatherford Democrat, 10; Shep’s Place, 96; North Side Baptist Church, 56; and Carter BloodCare Center, 14.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Battle of the Badges blood drive. Never before have we had so much community support. This year topped all years with 233 pints donated. A special thank you to Chief Paul Rust and Chief Lance Arnold for rallying the troops and the community. To all our location sponsors, you did a great job. We intend to add more locations next year and shoot for over 300 points,” Ron Hunn with the Rotary Club of Weatherford said. “This blood drive and others are critical for the area wide blood supply. Most people do not realize that the demand for blood in this area is often more than 10,000 units per week. When blood is needed, patients need it now, and lots of it. The summer time is when the supplies get very low.”
Carter BloodCare Field Recruitment Consultant Colleen Horan said blood supply is always low in the summer months.
“This is due to the fact that we do not have large, high school blood drives happening. High school and colleges account for almost 30 percent of the total blood supply. This summer, we were especially low on blood, as was the entire country,” Horan said. “The Weatherford Battle of the Badges was a tremendous help in stabilizing the local blood supply. Ron and the chiefs outdid themselves this year by rallying so many people to come out and donate blood. They literally saved hundreds of lives in our community. Carter BloodCare and the patients we serve could not be more grateful.”
Arnold said the police department was grateful to participate in Battle of the Badges and help donate to the low blood supply crisis.
“Although the outcome did not favor the police department this year, it was great to see our mayor, city council, businesses, churches and our community members get behind such a great cause. The city did a great job of helping to advertise the event and the locations and the Rotary Club did an outstanding job, as always, of organizing and staffing the sites,” Weatherford Police Chief Lance Arnold said. “Our community members came through, as they often do, to really help our area with the low blood supplies. We, as a department, are grateful to be able to participate in such a worthy event.”
To make blood donation hassle-free, students of the JC Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, have come up with a mobile app. “Named ‘Boond’, the app will enable direct contact between blood donors and seekers, thus reducing the time and hassles usually faced in emergency cases,” said a spokesperson of the university.
He said people seeking blood won’t have to roam unnecessarily and would be able to come into direct contact with voluntary blood donors through the app. Though it has been developed on the demand of the Rotary Blood Bank Charitable Trust, Faridabad, he said anyone could use the app and avail its benefit. “Through this app, the users can register themselves as blood donors and seekers with their respective blood groups. It will provide real-time GPS location to the users,” said the spokesperson.The university has announced to set up a data analysis lab to provide app maintenance services to the Trust. The app will soon be available on Google Play Store for Android users. It has been designed by Navdeep Kumar and Anisha Raheja, students of BTech (electronics) under the guidance Rashmi Chawla, assistant professor, department of electronics engineering. Rashmi said the app would be beneficial to those seekers who belong to very rare blood groups.
Bijendra AhlawatTribune News Service
Faridabad, August 11
