BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

HEALTH professionals last week explained the rationale on why people should donate blood voluntarily.  The experts who were at a Blood Donor Drive organised by the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC, also condemned activities of commercial blood donors in the country, warning that, such activities could put the lives of the patients in grave danger.

A Health Educator, Mrs. Temitope Balogun who noted that research has shown that having excessive blood in the body could be dangerous to the individual, said safe blood saves lives and improves health.

According to her, blood transfusion is needed for women with complications of pregnancy, such as ectopic pregnancies and haemorrhage before, during or after childbirth; children with severe anaemia often resulting from malaria or malnutrition; people with severe trauma following accidents; and many surgical and cancer patients and auto crash victims.

Balogun who spoke at the Skills Acquisition Centre, Isheri Olowo Ira, Ojodu area of Lagos, noted that there is constant need for regular blood supply because blood can be stored for only a limited time before use adding that, “regular blood donations by a sufficient number of healthy people is needed to ensure that safe blood will be available whenever and wherever it is needed,” she stated.

Encouraging the students of the centre to cultivate the culture of donating blood, she stated that “blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person.”