Make blood donation a habit, public advised

By MERCY KAHENDA

The Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service (KNBTS) has called on Kenyans to continue donating blood to avoid shortage during emergencies.

Director Margaret Odour said transfusion centres have insufficient blood in their banks, which leads to loss of lives during emergencies. Odour said the institution has adopted a trend dubbed ‘let the blood wait for the patient rather than patient waiting for the blood’.

“Kenyans should develop a culture of donating blood regularly to save lives of victims, for instance, during accidents and women who give birth. Sourcing for blood after emergency has caused death of many victims, who could have lived longer because of delays,” said Odour.

She added KNBTS has launched a mobile blood donation bus in Nairobi that shall be used to reach volunteers, who are not able to reach transfusion centres.

She added the Ministry of Health in collaboration with KNBT is also working on strategies of how to link with county governments to reach remote areas where people cannot access transfusion centres.

“In terms of emergency, it is easy to receive services at the nearest transfusion centre that should have ready blood. Strategies of ensuring the process runs smoothly is being worked on,” she said.

The director assured Kenyans that there is enough capacity to hold donated blood in the country and blood has never been discarded.

Save lives

“There are enough blood bags for the transfusion supplied to all centres. Volunteers should continue donating blood to save lives of victims,” she noted.

She acknowledged Kenyans for donating blood voluntarily following a call by Red Cross to assist victims of the Westgate Mall attack last year. “Majority of residents donated blood willingly despite them not having relatives who were affected by the Westgate siege. This spirit should continue because our banks still have some blood donated during the voluntary exercise,” she said.

She was speaking in Nakuru during a training programme aimed at ensuring blood in all transfusion centres in the country meet the international accreditation standards.

All six regional blood transfusion centres, including Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nairobi and Embu were represented during the training.