| The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has said that the blood bank is once again low in its blood supply and is calling on donors to come forward to boost its current stock.According to National Blood Donor Manager of the NBTS, Shameeza Mangal, this kind of shortage is normal around this time of the year, as it is the Christmas season, and persons tend to have a ‘laid-back’ attitude when it comes to voluntarily donating blood.However Mangal explained that, due to the reports carried in sections of the media that the NBTS discards blood, persons have restrained themselves from donating since they are of the belief that their blood would also go to waste.“Now when we are calling up persons and asking them to donate, people saying: ‘I hope y’all ain’t gon throw away my blood…’ So we are having a difficult time in getting persons to come forward,” Mangal told Kaieteur News yesterday.She noted that the blood bank has now taken up the task of explaining to persons exactly what ‘discarding’ blood means, as she noted that the only way the bank would discard blood is when its shelf life comes to an end or if the blood has any infection or disease.Now that the NBTS has recognised that it is the Christmas season, the bank has once again embarked on its ‘call back’ programme where recruiters would contact previous voluntary donors and asked them to donate blood.According to Mangal, this programme is not effective as only a few persons have actually responded to the calls. Others committed to donating did not turn up.She noted that most persons have promised to donate after the holidays, but she pointed out that this is also the season where a number of accidents take place, and it is a known fact that persons would be in need of blood, and as such the blood bank needs to ensure that enough blood is available.She added that it is the season for sharing and giving, and that persons should use the opportunity to give blood and save someone’s life.Only recently the Ministry of Health revealed that up to the end of November 6,927 units of blood have been collected by the NBTS.Of that number, voluntary blood donors contributed 3,900 units of all the blood collected,Cheap MLB Gear, while the NBTS was responsible for the collection of 5,643 units.In this regard, the Ministry of Health had urged the private sector hospitals to promote voluntary donation of blood, as the Ministry continues to make progress in recruiting more voluntary blood donors.Only a few months ago, the NBTS had experienced a severe shortage of blood at the blood bank, as an ‘SOS’ was issued for persons to immediately donate blood, since it was explained that if a major disaster were to occur in the country then the bank would not have enough blood to utilise if the need arises.Kaieteur News was told that the severe shortage might have been as a result of the drop in voluntary donors, especially during the hosting of CARIFESTA X in Guyana.In the meantime, while there was a call for persons to donate blood on a constant basis, a PEPFAR report had revealed that there may still be problems with the management of blood in Guyana, as it was noted that the NBTS had dumped blood that was spoilt due to the lack of inadequate or inappropriate storage facilities.However Minister Ramsammy had said that the report is absolute nonsense, although he admitted that the blood bank indeed discards blood, as he had explained that all blood banks in the world do the same thing. |
