Health Minister Wants Dedicated Blood Donors

Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has reiterated the need for a new generation of idealistic, motivated, voluntary and unpaid blood donors in the country, in view of their contributions towards saving lives and preventing unwaranted deaths through inavilabilty of blood for medical uses.

The Minister, speaking through the the South-west zonal coordinator of National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS),Dr. Wale Egbewunmi, stated that  recruiting and retaining young blood donors was central to improving the long-term safety and sufficincy of the counry’s blood supply.

Professor Chukwu said that the amount of blood donated yearly was still a far cry from the estimated requirement of the country.

According to him, “Nigeria requires an estimated two million units of blood and the National Blood Transfusion Service presently collects about 25,000 units of blood yearly.”

Professor Chukwu declared that evidence had demonstrated that patients, who received blood from regular voluntary non-remunerated donors, were at the lowest risk of acquiring blood-bones infections because they were motivated by altruism and had no reason to conceal information about their health status.

The health minister who called for stronger media support to create awareness on need for more blood donor volunteers, said the government had resolved to provide safe blood in the country and  had established 17 blood centres in the country, which would be complemented with training for health workers on blood donation and safety.

He stated that as a nation, the World Blood day provided the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of its donor programme and to improve on the margins, adding that, “the ultimate goal of the day was to ensure a 100 per cent voluntary unpaid blood donation.