By ESTHER ONYEGBULA

A clarion call has been made to Nigerians to imbibe the culture of voluntary blood donation in order to prevent avoidable deaths, arising from non-availability of safe blood. A medical doctor, Dr. Samuel Dare Alori, who made the call in a presentation during the voluntary blood donation drive of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC, at the Lagos State College of Health Technology, Yaba Lagos, stated: “If we intend to have a state where only safe blood is transfused in all appropriate health facilities in Nigeria, we must embrace the culture of voluntary blood donation.”

Advocating voluntary blood donation against commercial blood donation, Chairman Governing Council, Lagos State College of Health Technology, Dr. Abiola Tilley-Gyado, disclosed that most commercial blood donors engage in unhealthy activities that expose them to infection, making their blood unsafe for transfusion.”

Voluntary blood donors, on the other hand, have nothing to lose because the exercise helps their body produce new blood cells, and reduces the work load on the heart.

President of Club 25, Lagos State chapter, Shogo Oloshunde, who has donated blood 19 times over a period of five years, encouraged students of the Institute to donate voluntarily as a humanitarian gesture. Highlight of the event was the inauguration of the club 25 at the institute, which allows members to donate 25 unit of blood in their lifetime.