Doctors, Medical students and other volunteers lined-up and donated blood to help patients with sickle cell anemia, kidney diseases and others, who are in need of transfusions.
This is part of a weeklong event to commemorate the World Blood Donor Day, with a theme: “One drop of humanity. Give blood. Save a life” taking place at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The programme was organized by the National Blood Service Agency in collaboration with University of Maiduguri Medical Students Association.
Speaking to newsmen, the coordinator of the Agency, Dr. Muhammad Kabir, said that other patients to benefit from the donation are both victims of gunshots, bomb blast and childbirth mothers.
Kabir said the day was very significant in creating awareness and educating people on the benefit of donating blood, especially in states like Borno that’s bedevilled by insecurity and natural disaster.
“We regularly have victims of gunshots, bomb blast injuries among civilians and armed forces. We also have a high rise in the cases of chronic kidney and sickle cell ammonia in Borno.
“Also our mothers are losing blood during childbirth, which are emergency situations. And the type of family replacement blood donor practice in our communities will not solve these desperate situations,” he said.
Kabir, a Hematology consultant, said that most of the cases are emergency conditions where patients will not wait for the families to donate blood before the transfusion takes place.
He said the benefits of blood donation to the donor ranges from the spiritual satisfaction of saving lives, physical fitness and being free from medical conditions like hypertension, sudden heart attacks and stroke.
“If you see among the blood you reduce there are fatty components that narrow blood vessels and cause hypertension or block the heart and brain to cause heart attack or stroke.
“It’s also documented that people who give blood are free from conditions that excess iron contributes in the body like diabetes mellitus and the rest,” he said.
He also said that people who donate blood regularly rent to age younger and also get free medical check ups of blood pressure, hepatitis, weight and hemoglobin.
“Some people only know their medical conditions when they avail themselves to donate blood and we commence treating them before referral to doctors.
He said Borno State is bedevilled by cases of insurgency and natural disasters that require massive voluntary blood donations from the public.
“We regularly have victims of gunshots, bomb blast injuries among civilians and service men and a high rise in cases of chronic kidney diseases in Borno. Nigeria has the highest cases of kidney disease and Borno and Yobe states contribute significantly to the pool of that number.
He explained that the agency was created to serve as a bank for blood, so that at any point in time, blood can be collected, stored and provided during emergencies.
“For instance, when the flood disaster of September 10, 2024 struck Maiduguri, we had to travel and source blood from Damaturu and other neighboring states to serve many patients in need,” he said.
He also observed that many victims of the recent twin bomb blasts at Monday market and the teaching hospital’s gate were left stranded when the blood bank depleted.
“This incident happened during Ramadan fasting and we don’t encourage people who are fasting to donate blood. But we had to reach out to the medical students, nursing students and even among doctors living within the teaching hospital to donate blood.
“We spent the night collecting blood and got a significant amount before we saved quite a number of lives,” he added
Kabir decried that the donor’s blood collection level was very low compared to the demand of patients in the state.
He said, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), one percent of every community should be the required number of blood that should be available for that community.
“Borno State has a population of over 6 million people but we were only able to collect over 2,500 units of blood when we took an audit last year. It is grossly inadequate,” he said.
He called the attention of policy makers, traditional and religious leaders to drum out the message of blood donation and invest more on the donation to ensure blood security in the state.
