– Coordinator
THE Blood Bank is critically low and needs at least 104 units to meet the demand for scheduled open-heart surgeries, according to coordinator of the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), Ms. Shameeza Mangal.
She said surgical operations are to be performed at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) in the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Mangal said: “We do not have the group commitments and the number of walk-in donors who visit the Bank is small. On Monday, we had 32 units and, on Tuesday, we only had 22 units…we need voluntary donors to come forward.”
She pointed out that the 104 units are not the only need but some 300 additional units will be required for routine needs at both public and private hospitals, which include cancer services and normal surgeries.
Guyana does approximately 15,000 surgeries a year and about 2,000 women need blood annually when they deliver babies through caesarean section, while others require to address their anaemia.
The NBTS Coordinator emphasised the necessity for the wider public to support Guyana’s Good Samaritan Programme, the flagship blood donor recruitment system.
It is designed to encourage all adult Guyanese to become blood donors and allows each to contribute to saving lives.
Through it, the Health Ministry aims to have more than 7,000 Guyanese become regular donors and, if this target is met and donors give blood twice a year, Guyana can be assured of 12,000 units.
Anyone who is 17 years or older and weighs 110 pounds and more is eligible to give and can visit the various sites nationwide, the NBTS headquarters in Georgetown, West Demerara Regional, New Amsterdam, Suddie and Linden hospitals and persons requiring further information can call 227-0418.