The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has urged more citizens to embrace voluntary blood donation to shore up the state’s blood bank.
Speaking on Tuesday as a representative of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the 20th anniversary of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee (LSBTS), Abayomi said the state only had 130,000 donors, which was not enough.
He said, “There is something important I want to call our attention to, the voluntary donor rate is still on the low side, which means certain patients will be without access to blood.
“Looking at the demographic of Lagos, the blood-donating group is young adults, and we only have seen 130,000 donors, which is not enough. I appeal to Lagosians, Nigerians to donate blood; blood is therapeutic, and we cannot afford to be short of blood in our hospitals.
“If you are young and have no health problem, please find out how you can donate blood for us to meet up with the yearly target to make components of blood safe and available for the continuity of people”.
The health commissioner explained that the ministry was expanding access to adequate blood transfusion with the use of modern technology to make it free of any infection and this was why voluntary blood donation was important.
The anniversary lecture, titled, ‘Pioneering the path, shaping the future in blood services’, was delivered by Maj. Gen. (Dr) Abimbola Amusu (retd.), who encouraged the practitioners to key into quality services and management of blood transfusion.
Executive Secretary, LSBTS, Dr Bodunrin Osikomaiya, said, “Our theme of the lecture is a testament to our identity; it is important to note that Lagos State is the first state to enact a law for the establishment of a committee on blood transfusion in Nigeria, the first to commence the use of WHO-recommended semi-automated ELISA technology, the first to formulate and implement the policy of full automation in blood, screening technology, the first to own a Pathogen Reduction Technology, the first with an active well-structured haemovigilance programme and the first in convalescent plasma collection in the management of emerging infectious diseases which allowed us to represent Africa in the first meta-analysis in the management of COVID-19, patients”.
In her goodwill message, a pioneer member of the committee, Prof. Ibironke Akinsete, congratulated the committee, saying Lagos State had supported the committee over the years.
