COORDINATOR of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), Ms. Shameeza Mangal, said Guyanese should give an early Christmas gift, the gift of life, during November, especially since December is a month that sees a high demand for blood, but a small number of donors. “When it comes to December we see that blood donation is a seasonal thing. Most people are busy with the Christmas activities and we do not have many drives or walk –in donors,” she said.
However, she pointed out that babies are still born and may need blood, and accidents still happen, more so in December. Hence the urgency of the call for donors to make a special effort in November.
“We are still to meet our target of 9,000 units for 2010…right now we are trying to secure as many drives as we can and the Bank is doing call backs of voluntary donors so that we can get our numbers up,” Mangal said.
The NBTS Coordinator said today the Guyana Red Cross will host its regular once a month blood drive and added that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has indicated its interest to have a few drives.
Mangal stated that for this week, NBTS staffers will be working on sensitization among those who expressed their interest in hosting blood drives.
“It is a daily struggle, but we have made some progress,” she said.
According to her, the Health Ministry’s Good Samaritan Programme has contributed greatly to the successes that have been seen with voluntary blood donations.
The Good Samaritan Programme, Guyana’s flagship blood donor recruitment programme, is designed to encourage all adult Guyanese to become blood donors. It’s a programme that allows each Guyanese to contribute to saving lives. Through this programme, the Health Ministry aims to have more that 7,000 Guyanese becoming regular blood donors. If this target is met and donors give blood twice a year, Guyana can be assured of 12,000 units of blood per year.
Mangal pointed out that in 2000, voluntary donation accounted for between 16 and 18 per cent of units donated. Last year, that percentage increased to 68.
This year the target for voluntary donation has been set at 80 per cent of the 9,000 units target.
Voluntary givers are welcomed at all five sites nationwide: the NBTS headquarters in Georgetown, West Demerara Regional, New Amsterdam, Suddie and Linden hospitals.