As Nigeria joins the Global Community to Commemorate this year’s World Blood Donor Day, Col. Andrew .A. Aloku, the coordinator Armed Forces Blood Centre and also the Dir Military Hospital, Port Harcourt has called for all and sundry to see blood donation as a vital tool to save lives.
Speaking at the event, Col. Aloku said that the day was set aside to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products world-wide, while also thanking voluntary unpaid donors for their life-saving gift of blood.
According to him, transfusion of blood and blood products save millions of lives every year, saying that every seconds, someone, somewhere needs blood for survival.
He said the theme of this year’s campaign is “Blood Donation And Universal Access To Safe Blood Transfusion” a component of achieving universal health coverage. The slogan “safe blood for all” has also been adopted to emphasize the vital need for safe blood in the delivery of health care and the crucial role that voluntary blood donations play in achieving the goal of universal health coverage.
He went further to explain that the theme strongly encourage more people all over the world to become blood donors that donate blood regularly in order to build a sustainable pool that is sufficient to meet the nation’s needs of all patients requiring transfusion.
Col. Aloku noted that the use of blood and blood products has become an integral part of modern medical practice. Access to safe blood and blood products is a key component of an effective health system, and a significant building block for the successful achievement of health-related sustainable development goal.
And that a population of over 180million, Nigeria’s estimated blood need is about 2million units per annum. Unfortunately, much less is currently donated leading to avoidable deaths, morbidities or ill health, particularly amongst women folk, new-borns and children, victims of road traffic accidents and insurgencies.
He therefore promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure that the AFBC in Port Harcourt by creating public awareness of the need for committed year-round blood donation in order to maintain adequate supplier and achieve a national self-sufficiency of blood.
The commander 115 special operation, Nigerian Air Force Port Harcourt, Air CDRE Ebiowe who was represented by Wing Commander .C.S. Visan Commended the centre for their good job and promised to support them to promote the practice of donating blood so as to save more lives.
A regular blood donor and a lecturer in the Federal University, Otueke in Bayelsa State. Dr. Mrs. Adeoike Ariyo said she was motivated into the mission and vision of blood transfusion service because of desire to put smile on the faces of people, while the radiance comes back to lighten her ways.
Her words: Having been part of this, it gives me a self fulfillment because I know that each time I donate my blood it will save someone who is in a critical need of blood to survive, of which it gives me satisfaction as a patriotic citizen.
