MINISTER of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said, last Sunday, that the Cornelia Ida community on the West Coast  of Demerara has, on a household basis, the highest percentage of voluntary blood donors in Guyana.
Making the disclosure, he said it is an achievement to which the Ministry wants each community to aspire. “Every household should have at least one donor,” Ramsammy urged, after the Hindu Saraswati Vidya Nikhetan School, at Cornelia Ida, hosted a collaborative blood drive, for the fourth consecutive year, which garnered over 250 units.
“This group in this community sets out standards. By far, no group has ever attempted a collective target this large,” he remarked.
Ramsammy said such efforts, if emulated by others, will assist the Health Ministry to meet its blood collection target, which, for this year, is set at 8,000 units.
But he is optimistic that Guyanese can rise to the challenge of delivering 10,000 units as, so far, the accumulation has been good and the use maximised.
“In the old days we used to use the blood as a whole unit. Now we are separating the units into components like plasma and platelets and utilise all,” he informed.
Ramsammy revealed that Guyana has gone past the stage where the challenge was to involve the average person in blood donation and, presently, the objective is to encourage regular donors twice a year.

“I am in a position to now say that there are 10,000 Guyanese who are voluntary donors. These 10,000 would be enough but most of these donors are people who come once in a while. We need to get to the stage where blood donation become part of people’s psyches and, as donors, they could recognise the need to donate at least twice per year.” – Minister Ramsammy

“I am in a position to now say that there are 10,000 Guyanese who are voluntary donors. These 10,000 would be enough but most of these donors are people who come once in a while. We need to get to the stage where blood donation become part of people’s psyches and, as donors, they could recognise the need to donate at least twice per year,” he said.

FAMILY REPLACEMENTS

Ramsammy also alluded to the issue of family replacements where clan members were the ones to donate blood in times of need.
He said this country has made some progress in stopping this practice and the Health Ministry advocates voluntary donations, due to the disadvantages that present themselves with family replacements.
However, Ramsammy said that – apart from Guyana – no other Caribbean country has taken steps to reduce this practice of relying on family donors.
He explained that, under pressure of necessity, there is the risk that family members, in donating blood, may not be completely truthful during the min-health check that is done before the donation.
Ramsammy pointed out, too, that the reliability of family donors is also a risk, because, at the time of need, the particular member might be unavailable or unfit to make the donation.
Consequently, he reiterated the necessity for voluntary donations to be advanced.
“A better way to guarantee blood is through voluntary donors. This is the best way. Five or ten years ago we (the Caribbean) were all in the same boat but Suriname had the courage to ban family replacements,” Ramsammy explained.
Volunteers are welcome at all five sites nationwide, the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) headquarters in Georgetown, West Demerara Regional, New Amsterdam, Suddie and Linden hospitals.
In an invited comment, Swami Aksharananda, who spearheaded the Cornelia Ida exercise, commended the efforts of the students of Saraswati Vidya Nikhetan School.
He said each of the 275 students were requested to invite a donor and, through this strategy volunteers confirmed their willingness to give.