The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently urged all countries to establish blood services based on full voluntary non-remunerated blood donations. The global health agency explained that voluntary unpaid blood donations must be increased rapidly in more than half of the world’s countries to ensure a reliable supply of safe blood for patients who need blood transfusion.

The goal of WHO is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary, unpaid donors by 2020. The Director General of the organisation, Dr. Margaret Chan, made the call during this year’s World Blood Donor Day celebrated worldwide on June 14. She stressed that voluntary, unpaid blood donation is the act of giving life, which is the greatest gift any person can give or receive.  The significance of blood to life is clearly expressed in the theme of this year’s World Blood Donor Day: “Blood connects us all”, and its slogan: “Share life, give blood.”

The WHO expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation in which 34 countries, including Nigeria, depend on family donors and paid donors for more than 75 per cent of their blood supply.  Available data show that currently, only 62 countries get close to 100 per cent of their national blood supplies from voluntary, unpaid blood donations, while 34 countries either depend on families and friends of patients or buy blood from touts.

We are in total support of the global health agency’s campaign for voluntary unpaid blood donation in all countries. The campaign could not have come at a better time than now that there is increasing need for blood donation to victims of armed insurgency, herdsmen violence, armed robbery, road accidents and emergency child delivery. Voluntary and unpaid blood donation is a noble cause that should be encouraged in all countries, especially developing ones like ours, where the practice has not gained wide acceptability.

Apart from saving the lives of those in danger, blood donation also has health benefits for the donor.  Blood is a precious gift from God and its donation is not deleterious to the wellbeing of healthy donors. Those who have been screened and found suitable to donate their blood should do so voluntarily without charging any money for it. This will help to save many lives in the country.

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Nigerians should, once again, take pride in free and voluntary blood donation as we had it in the past. We should not allow materialism to discourage us from engaging in this life-saving exercise. Health authorities at the three tiers of government should take up this challenge and embark on massive campaigns to encourage voluntary blood donation in the country.

They should deploy all organs of mass communication, including the traditional media, to educate Nigerians on the need for, and the benefits of, voluntary blood donation.  The abuse of blood donation by touts and persons of doubtful health should be stopped. Touts should be discouraged from milling around our hospitals in a bid to sell their blood.

The importance of blood donation in the country cannot be over-emphasised. We, therefore, encourage healthy individuals to donate their blood. Let health-related Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the country embrace this campaign and do all that they can to enlighten all Nigerians, including those in rural areas, on the need for voluntary blood donation.

At the same time, we caution that all blood donors should be properly screened to avoid transfusion of tainted blood to patients. There is also the need to have more blood banks in our hospitals to ease access to the product. These blood banks should be properly managed to ensure that the blood stored in them do not become a danger to those who are transfused with it.

Let all healthy Nigerians embrace the culture of voluntary blood donation. Beyond saving lives, it encourages people to care for one another and promotes communal living and social cohesion.