APATHY OF VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONORS IN NIGERIA
Every year, June 14th is globally recognised as World Blood Donor Day, to highlight the importance of blood donation in medical care and appreciate voluntary non-paid donors for their selfless gifts. This year’s theme from the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity” in recognition of how blood donation remains an altruistic gesture of kindness from one person to another.
Blood cannot be manufactured in a lab. There are currently no medical alternatives to blood donations for patients in need. These include women in labour, neonates, surgeries, diseases like sickle cell anaemia, cancer and leukaemia. Most urgently, blood is required for accidents and emergencies as witnessed following the recent terrorist attack in Owo, Ondo State, where dozens of blood donors were needed to help victims.
Despite its importance to sustaining life, Nigeria still grapples with insufficient blood and blood products nationwide due to lack of voluntary blood donation. The reluctance of individuals who are potentially eligible to donate blood is regarded as donor apathy. With an annual need of up to 1.8 million units of blood, the NBTS collects only about 66,000 units per year, leaving a deficit of more than 1.7million pints of blood. This is despite a population of approximately 200million, out of which over half are young people-the best demographic to donate blood.
Voluntary donors are safer and more reliable than people who are paid or coerced into blood donation. However, voluntary donors remain critically low for various reasons: limited information on where to donate, poor hospital reception, cumbersome protocols, limited opening times, inadequate donation centres and long waiting times. In major cities like Lagos, full of heavy traffic and working people, blood donation needs to be easily available on evenings and weekends.
The fear of needles, getting infected or sick after donation also prevents some potential donors. This rarely happens and the ease and safety of blood donation needs to be greater amplified through advocacy, especially targeting the youth.
In addition, the lack of commitment to blood donation can be attributed to distrust of the health care system, especially health workers who oversee the collection, storage, and distribution of blood. Health workers are sometimes reported to trade voluntarily donated blood for cash from blood recipients. These few bad apples also disincentivises voluntary donors. The insufficient supply of blood leads to hospitals rationing blood or even recruiting paid donors, which is unsustainable for our health care system.
Finally, socio-economic and security challenges continue to remain a hindrance to voluntary donation. As a significant percentage of the population grapples with meeting basic needs, persisting unemployment, rising poverty, and general insecurity, finding the time and self-sacrifice to go and donate blood for strangers can be a hard encourage.
To solve these complex challenges, countries have invested significantly in improving citizens’ knowledge of voluntary blood donation and its importance for the sustenance of lives. They have developed systems to make donation easy, where donors are assured of their safety and that their donation will save lives. World Blood Donor Day serves as a reminder for all stakeholders, government, NGOs and healthcare workers to work together to appreciate blood donors for their lifesaving gift of blood.
Advocacy organisations such as Haima Health Initiative continue to work on educating the public on the importance of blood donation and facilitating the process for donors and patients including timely delivery of blood.
Bola Olukwewu, recade@yahoo.com
