On 14 June 2011, countries worldwide including Nigeria, celebrated World Blood Donor Day with events to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. The 2009 Melbourne Declaration called on countries to achieve 100% voluntary unpaid blood donation by the year 2020, a tall order for Nigeria.

The need for safe and secure supplies of blood and blood products is universal. Worldwide, at least 90 million units of blood are donated each year to save lives and improve health, says WHO. WHO also noted that demand for blood for transfusion continues to increase, and many countries cannot meet existing needs. In many regions, this means inadequate supplies to replace blood lost in childbirth (a major cause of maternal deaths) and to treat anaemia that threatens the lives of children who have malaria or are undernourished. Everywhere, blood and blood products are needed for routine and emergency surgery, including life-saving treatment for a growing numbers of people injured in road traffic accidents, and for treating congenital blood disorders.

Globally, more than 70 countries including Nigeria have blood donation rates less than what is generally considered necessary to meet a nation’s basic requirements for blood, namely 1% of the population; the requirements are higher in countries with advanced health care systems. Even countries with higher donation rates often struggle to maintain blood stocks that are sufficient to meet the requirements for a range of increasingly sophisticated medical and surgical procedures.

Less than 1% of the populations of developing countries donate blood, compared with over 65% in developed countries, according to the WHO programme on blood transfusion safety, which access blood safety trends, safety and priorities.

A stable base of voluntary unpaid blood donors who give regularly is the foundation of a safe and adequate blood supply, which Nigeria desperately needs. Cases abound in Nigeria where touts have been the ones donating blood for a fee. But a few still donate blood for free, one of whom is 24-year-old 300-level Micro Biology Student, Ibrahim Orisusi, whom our correspondent spotted donating blood voluntarily at LASUTH.

He said he decided to be donating so that he can help patients who are in need of blood with what God gave him for free. “Apart from donating blood, I do my general health check every three months. I also specifically check my HIV status every six months, this is good for everybody, people shouldn’t panic, it is better one knows his/her status of health.”

Certain groups have also taken it upon themselves as part of their humanitarian service to canvass for blood for those who need it and sometimes donate themselves. One example is the Muslim Medical Students in both LASUTH and LUTH. Annually this group of students solicits for blood donors and some of them also donate blood. The Amir of the Muslims Medical students at LASUTH, Brother Abdul Wahab Egebrongbe said the group in the first week of June held programme on the importance of donating blood as part of the MSSN 2011 week activities where about 70 students both males and females donated blood. Egberongbe said people often don’t want to donate blood because of the fear of detecting diseases in their systems due to the diagnosis carried out on blood samples to affirm whether such blood is fit for others, adding people are so afraid of HIV and so they don’t want know their health status.

He said currently, a pack of blood cost about N10, 000.00 to N12, 000.00 and because Nigerians always look for every opportunity to make money, some people will definitely see it as an avenue of enriching themselves by donating blood for money.

Hope Nwokolo, LUTH’s spokesperson also told of how Muslim students organization in their institution donate blood, adding: “In Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) we don’t allow touts to donate blood but of course we allow spirited individuals who may walk in to donate. What we basically do is we require relations of our patient to donate bloods to save their relations. And we also mandate any man whose wife is pregnant to donate blood before the wife puts to bed. Also our blood bank department goes to town encouraging people to voluntarily donate blood. Only those who are medically fit can donate blood.”