People across the country have been encouraged to embrace the spirit of donating blood in a quest to save the lives of patients requiring blood transfusion in hospitals.
Machinga District Commissioner, Rosemary Nawasha made the remarks on Saturday when the Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS) commemorated the world blood donor day in Balaka district.
The occasion brought together blood donors from all the districts of the Eastern region who have an outstanding track record in blood donation with the aim of motivating but also encouraging them for the role they play.
Nawasha noted that blood donors are the ones carrying the country on their shoulders.
“I should make it clear that these blood donors are doing a commendable job in saving people’s lives. Without them, hospitals find it very hard to save the lives of patients requiring blood donation, particularly those requiring emergency surgical attention,” she said.
28-year-old Grace Kumwenje, a soldier at the Malawi Maritime Force (MMF) in Mangochi district, takes blood donation as her routine course. For 27 times, Grace has found donating blood more rewarding than anything else.
“Since I started donating blood in 2010, I find exctiment because I know that I am saving someone’s life at a certain corner of the country. This, gives me pleasure all the time,” Kumwenje explained.
Speaking in an interview, head of MBTS in the Eastern region, Edith Chimphamba, said they are optimistic that in the near future deaths related to short supply of blood will be a thing of the past as they are making tremendous progress in blood collection.
“Of course we are not yet satisfied at the rate which we are collecting units of blood. However, we are heading towards the right direction. I remember that when we were starting, we started at a low note but the situation has changed at a supersonic speed due to intensive awareness campaigns that we always put in place,” she said.
According to Chimphamba, MBTS Balaka depot has in the past nine months collected a considerable volume of blood such that blood stock in the hospitals is good.
Balaka depot which serves hospitals in the Eastern region has approximately 10,000 regular blood donors.
This year’s commemorations were under the theme “Donating blood is an act of Solidarity, join the effort to save lives.
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