Paynesville – As Liberia prepares to celebrate World Blood Donors Day (WBDD), the Ministry of Health in partnership with the World Health Organization has launched a blood donor awareness campaign in Paynesville.
Report by Augustine T. Tweh – [email protected]
The campaign took place on Thursday June 1, 2017 at the compound of the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) under the theme: “Blood Connects Us All” with the slogan: “Share Life, Give Blood”.
In an interview with FrontPage Africa, Sowillie Fatu Lomax, blood bank manager Montserrado County, said the exercise is intended to stop the sale of blood in hospitals and encourage the general public to donate blood for patients who are in need but cannot afford the cost.
“Usually, we come to schools to talk to students to give blood for patients who are in the hospitals who don’t have relatives to help them to give blood,” she said.
She also noted that the initiative is aimed at giving blood and saving the lives of patients who cannot pay the cost of a pound of blood to save their lives, something said will help boost the health sector in reducing the death rate in the country.
“Our mission is to give blood and save lives. What we are fighting for is to stop the sale of blood in hospitals in the fifteen counties in Liberia.”
“So we are here to talk to students on a volunteer basis to give blood free of charge to take it to the hospitals for patients who are in need but don’t have money” she noted.
She used the occasion to call on all well-meaning Liberians to turn out and support the initiative by donating blood to save lives in hospitals in the country, noting that every citizen is a nation builder.
“We are trying to stop the death rate, because people died in hospitals due to the lack of blood and financial constraints, so we want everybody to join us in supporting this initiative by going to the hospitals to donate blood free of charge to save our people’s lives,” she averred.
For his part, Wolo Toe, a student who also donated blood in support of the exercise said the campaign is timely and welcoming, adding that it will help save the lives of patients who are in need of blood but don’t have the cash to pay.
“The initiative is important, because some times when your blood is too much in you it causes problem for you, so I think it will help save our brothers and sisters who are in the hospitals suffering for blood.”