One of the easiest ways in which people can save the lives of others, including strangers, without endangering their own, is through blood donation.
This should be a good enough motivation to get more people to volunteer but it is just not happening.
As a result, blood banks do not have enough and hospitals are forced to send out appeals for life-saving surgeries.
According to the Ministry of Health, there is a deficit of more than 800,000 units of blood a year.
Only two per cent of the population voluntarily donates blood and yet the country needs a million units a year. It must be quite frustrating for the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service, which managed to collect only 164,275 units last year.
The culture of donating blood should have taken root due to the regular awareness campaigns. One of the impediments, experts say, has to do with HIV/Aids. Many adults fear that donating blood could lead to them knowing their HIV status and, hence, opt to stay away.
There would not have been a more mistaken notion.
Granted, the blood is screened for HIV and common diseases as it would be criminal to transfuse impure blood into anyone.
And there are benefits from knowing one’s HIV status. Unlike in the past, having HIV is no longer a death sentence. Those infected can seek help and remedies and live fairly normal lives. Today, it is the ignorance about one’s status that can be disastrous.
There is, therefore, a need to debunk the myths that have been spun around blood donation. Experts say that men can donate blood every three months and women every four months and, contrary to the lies peddled about supposed dangers, it’s healthy to do so.
More people should volunteer to donate blood to help save lives.
