The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Donate blood

  • ‘Donate blood, save lives’

    As part of its corporate social responsibilities, industrial giant Tolaram Group, in collaboration with Rotary Club of Lagos Island, has held a blood donation camp at its premises in Surulere, Lagos.

    No fewer than 80 people that included Tolaram’s workers, Rotary members and residents of Eric Moore attended the event. At the end, over 90 pints of blood were donated.

    Its General Manager (Finance) Mr Manoj Dhanuka said the camp was part of Tolaram’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives for its host community, even as he added that the gesture was aimed at complementing government’s blood bank initiative. He said the company also held a camp last month. He expressed his happiness to partner Rotary on the initiative.

    Rotary Club’s President Sanjeev Tandon expressed satisfaction over Tolaram’s gesture. He said the aim of the club was to serve communities, adding that earlier Chellarams, Kewalram and Airtel had partnered Rotary. He said the company had done four camps out of the six he promised during his installation.

    He urged Nigerians to imbibe the culture of blood donation, noting that the objective of the club is to inculcate in Nigerians this consciousness, saying that blood donation is common in India. “They should not entertain any fear in donating blood,’’ he said.

    Tandon praised Chairman of Tolaram Group Mr Mohan Vaswani, who is also an honorary member of Rotary, adding that he has done well for the club and Nigeria through the camp and Ishk Limb Centre. He noted that since March 2009, it has given out over 11, 725 free limbs to Nigerians.

    The club’s Vice-President Dr Sunit Debroy also urged Nigerians to donate blood. He said Christians should imbibe the exercise and see it as a form of giving tithe and offering. “If you donate blood, you save lives,’’ he added.

    Rotary International District 9110 Awards and Recognition Committee Chairman Steve Bossey said: “The camp is good, very impressive. The turnout was good. This is essentially what Rotary is all about.’’

  • Rotarians donate blood

    Rotarians donate blood

    Members of the Rotary Club of Lagos Palmgrove Estate have donated blood to the blood bank of the Lagos State Government.

    The club’s President, Atul Kshetry, said the donation would ensure Nigerians in need of blood “do not die due to lack of blood supply” adding that it would also encourage voluntary blood donation among Nigerians.

    He spoke yesterday during the Blood Donation Camp held by the club at the Indian Temple Compound, Ilupeju, Lagos.

    Kshetry said the Blood Donation Camp committee ensures monthly voluntary donation of blood by volunteers.

    He noted that for this particular camp, the club’s target was 80 pints of blood.

    Kshetry said: “The need for blood donation is very important because there is a huge shortage of same. The act of voluntary blood donation is not common in Nigeria, as in other parts of the world.

    “By the Blood Camp, we are creating awareness on the importance of voluntary blood donation, just as we also are targeting free donation of 1, 000 pints of blood. That will make blood sufficiently available through the Red Cross Club.”

    He noted that the major challenge of the committee was how to motivate Nigerians to donate blood voluntarily.

    “This is because Nigerians do not have the culture of donation. That is similar to India some 30 years ago. There was no culture but over time, the culture was built up. But in Africa, the problem still persists.

    “This particular Blood Donation Camp was done by some social organisations within the Indian community in Nigeria -Maharastra Mandal from Western India and Oriya Samaj Nigeria from the Eastern coast of India.

    “Lagos State Transfusion Blood Services (LSTBS) is the body that assisted in the collection of blood from these voluntary donors. This collaboration has been on for four years now,” he said.

    The Lagos State Transfusion Blood Services (LSTBS) Scientific Officer, Yinka Animashaun, who confirmed this, said it won’t be the first time the LSTBS would be assisting the club with technicalities. She noted that the club does the Blood Camp drive about thrice a year.

    “They have a target. And it is good that major blood pints come from them. The goal is to help the Lagos State Government stock up its blood bank, so as to save a life. This is because a lot of people have been dying due to the shortage of blood especially in emergencies.

    “The club is a humanitarian organisation offering its services to humanity. It is coordinating people in giving voluntary blood. The major role of Lagos State Transfusion Blood Services is purely carrying out the technicalities involved in blood donation such as testing for the parameters and collection of the blood,” said Animashaun.

  • Muslims donate blood to public hospitals

    Members of the Movement for Islamic Culture and Awareness (MICA), has donated blood to public hospitals in Lagos State.

    The event was held at Crescent Nursery and Primary School, Victoria Island, Lagos, in conjunction with the Haematology and Blood Transfusion Department of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    A chieftain of the group, Abdulhamid Ademola explained that the organization embarked on the exercise in order to help in saving lives especially those who are in need of blood in public hospitals.

    He said: “We have a team called life savers group and we have decided that we should donate blood regularly to save the lives of people and mankind. While I was donating, I was informed that there is shortage of rhesus negative donors and we have some of them as member so we will be glad to donate. Therefore, we will mobilize our members to donate in order to save the lives of people in need of blood.”

    The Amirah of the group, Ganiya Sulaiman-Olokodana said: “It is the duty of every Muslims to care about the condition of others and also do everything possible to save life. I belong to rhesus negative group and I know we are in short supply, so it gladdens me to be part of the exercise.”

  • Want to look younger? Donate blood

    Students of Optometry in Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, visited the National Blood Transfusion Service (NABTS) to donate blood toward saving lives. EKENE AHANEKU (200-Level Optometry) reports.

    DURING their anatomy class, they were told pathetic stories of the emergency wards and how blood could save a life.After the lecture, about 70 students of Optometry in Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, went to the National Blood Transfusion Service (NABTS).

    They also visited orphanages to donate materials to the less privileged.

    An Anatomy lecturer, Dr A.N. Obialor, who told the gripping stories, led the volunteers to the NABTS. On getting to the centre, which shares premises with the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, the students were taken on a tour of the facilities to learn the benefits of blood donation. They were surprised to learn that donating blood regularly can make the donor to look younger.

    Exicted by the revelation, some of them stepped forward to donate. In 120 days, they were told, red blood cells die to regenerate new ones in the body. The students learnt that blood donation reduces skin wrinkles.

    Before the donation, forms were shared among the students to ascertain their fitness.

    Their body weight, Haemoglobin (Hb) level, HIV status, blood pressure and pulse rate were checked before the donation. Some of them whose weights were less than 50kg were barred. Also, students whose Haemoglobin (Hb) level was below 11g/dl and who had high blood pressure and low pulse rate were disqualified.

    After the donation, many students shared their experience. Success Onyema, 200-Level Optometry, said: “My Haemoglobin level was discovered to be 17.4g/dl, which means I have more than enough blood to donate. During the session, I noticed that the blood was not flowing, at first. The needle was later adjusted to pump out the blood. I felt the pain but it was my determination to save a life that made made to proceed with the exercise.”

    Chidera Odionyenma, another student, said: “The experience was something I cannot explain. First, I thought it will be painful but when it got to my turn, I noticed it was just a normal thing to do. I will tell my friends to try to donate blood because it is an exercise that is rewarding to save life”.

    “I felt like I gave life to someone that needed it most,” Nosiri Amauche said.

    Emmanuella Ogazi, who donates frequently, said: “I enjoy free medical attention whenever I need it; all I need to do is to present my red card, which indicates that I am a frequent donor. Today, I am happy it would be the fourth time I would be donating blood. My aim is to save life.”

    According to the students, the exercise was fun not because they donated a vital fluid in their body, but because they donated to save lives of people they would not meet.