Gombe Health Ministry Calls for Sustained Blood Donation After 575 Pints Collected
By Laraba Usman
The Gombe State Ministry of Health has called on members of the public to make voluntary blood donation a continuous practice, stressing that a reliable blood supply is critical to saving lives during medical emergencies.
The call was made by Dr. Siraj Abdulkarim, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Gombe State Ministry of Health, following a blood donation campaign that yielded 575 pints of blood.
Dr. Abdulkarim said about 300 pints were collected during the first three days of the campaign, while a further 275 pints were donated after the campaign ended.
He noted that community leaders and traditional chiefs were among those who participated in the exercise, calling on members of the public to continued to donate blood even after the initial campaign period.
According to him, the donated blood has been distributed to high-volume health facilities, including the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, the Women and Children Hospital, Idi and the Specialist Hospital Gombe, which will held attend to a large number of patients and medical emergencies.
Dr. Abdulkarim said 20 pints were also supplied to the General Hospitals in Bajoga and Kaltungo to support their activities, while the remaining blood was largely used for students and other patients requiring transfusion.
He noted that although health facilities had blood banks, their storage capacity remained limited and inadequate to meet the growing demand for blood.
Dr. Abdlkarim explained that blood is particularly important for pregnant women experiencing complications during childbirth, accident victims, surgical patients, children and people living with conditions that require regular transfusion.
He stressed that during emergencies, patients cannot afford to wait for relatives or members of the public to travel long distances before blood becomes available.
“Following an accident, patients may need immediate attention and cannot afford to wait for relatives or other donors to provide blood,” he said.
The health official further stressed the importance of maintaining adequate supplies of all blood groups, explaining that although demand for particular blood groups may vary, every blood group is essential because patients require compatible blood during transfusion.
He called for a system in which blood is collected, stored, distributed and continuously replenished, rather than relying on donations only when hospitals run short.
“Whenever blood is used, the supply should be replenished through continued donations,” he said.
Dr. Abdulkarim also appealed to healthy members of the public to regularly visit designated health facilities and donate blood voluntarily.
He said sustained voluntary blood donation would help hospitals maintain adequate supplies and ensure that blood is readily available for pregnant women, accident victims, children, surgical patients and other critically ill people whenever the need arises.
According to him, every donation has the potential to save a life, urging members of the public to support the campaign by donating regularly and encouraging others to do the same.
“Blood cannot be manufactured; its availability depends largely on the willingness of healthy individuals to donate,” he said.
