WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY 2014

The world blood donor day is here again. It is a day specially designed to raise awareness on the need for safe blood and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gift of blood. This year’s theme is “safe blood for saving mothers”, and it is specifically meant to create and increase awareness on the prevention of maternal deaths.

 According to the world health organization, about 800 women die every day from pregnancy and child-related complications. Most women usually go through severe bleeding during delivery and after childbirth, and this is a major cause of mortality, morbidity and long-term disability, but if there is quick access to safe and sufficient blood and blood products, then the rate of maternal deaths is surely going to reduce.

 A recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on ‘Trends in maternal mortality: 1990-2013’ classifies Nigeria as one of the 10 countries of the world that contribute about 60 per cent of the world’s maternal mortality burden. Most of these deaths occurred in rural and poorer communities where they don’t have quick access to safe blood to save their lives. 

Though Nigeria currently has a maternal mortality ratio of 560 per 100,000 live births, the ratio improved slightly moving from 630 per 100,000 recorded in 2010. This high mortality rate in Nigeria falls short of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets for 2015. With 2015 at the corner there are doubts that the goal of eradicating maternal mortality or reducing the ugly trend drastically will be achieved. 

The concern of this year’s world blood donor day is that most maternal deaths are preventable, as the healthy-care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known. A quick access to blood and blood products can reduce maternal death by 25%.

 Nigeria need about 1.5million units of blood annually to take care of the estimated 170 million populations. If 1% of Nigerians cultivate the habit of donating blood voluntarily once in a year, the short fall in the blood and blood products experience in the country will be solved.

 The campaign is to implore all the ministry of health to take concrete steps to ensure that all health facilities are improved upon for women giving birth to have access to safe blood and blood products from volunteer donors. The policy of Lagos state government on compulsory blood donation by family of pregnant women using the state-owned hospitals can be implemented in other part of the federation.

The national blood service should also focus more on how to encourage voluntary donors to donate blood and establish more centres. 

The media should also help in educating the general populace, through their programmers’ on radio and television on the essence of donating blood to save other peoples’ lives. Local dialects should be use to disseminate information on the need for voluntary blood donation. 

The need for safe and secure supplies of blood and blood products is universal, we can achieve 100% voluntary non remunerative blood donation in Nigeria. Start this by donating #JustOnePint of safe blood today.

 NAHIMAT DAVIES.