The Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare Dr Yankuba Kassama has urged Gambians to become voluntary non-remunerated blood donors to save lives that they have never met before.

Speaking during the occasion of World Blood Donor Day at the Arch 22 on Monday, Kassama said in 2003, the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) required 7684 units of blood but could only get 4803 units.

“This amounts to a deficit of 37 percent,” he said adding that the number of units given by voluntary donors was 1884 units, which accounts for 39 percent of the blood required while relatives of the patients donated the remaining 61 percent.

“This situation is certainly not desirable and furthermore, the advent of HIV/AIDS epidemic dictates that blood for transfusion should be safe and free of disease and the safest blood is that donated by voluntary non- remunerated blood donors,” he noted.

He said  statistics from the RVTH reveal that severe anaemic (lack of blood) accounts for 20.9 percent of deaths in infants under five (5) years and 6.8 percent of deaths in children over five years old.

He said antepurtum haemorrhage (bleeding in pregnancy) accounts for 16.4 percent of deaths and severe anaemia in pregnancy also accounts for 6.3 percent of the total deaths in the maternity ward respectively.

Kassama added that overall, 27 percent of children, 22.7 percent and 11 percent of the adults of both sexes die of conditions requiring blood transfusion.

“These deaths are avoidable only if Gambians come forward to donate blood freely and regularly,” he added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) country representative in the Gambia, Dr Nestor Shivute, said every year, more than 80 million units of blood are collected worldwide but only 38 percent of the blood collected comes from the developing countries which accounts for 82 percent of the world population.

He said in the African Region, barely 2.5 million units of blood are collected each year as measured against an estimated annual need of about 15 million units.

“To make up for this shortfall, there is urgent need for appropriate strategies that will help not only to collect sufficient quantities of blood that is safer for patients, but also to ensure behaviour change among our populations in the light of the growing threat of HIV/AIDS which is taking a heavy tool on our continent,” he said.

Dr Shivute added that mindful of the importance of transfusion safety to national health systems, WHO has made transfusion safety one of its priorities since 2000.

“The need to improve the quality of service provided in blood transfusion centers prompted the establishment in the year 200 of a WHO funded quality management training programme,” he added.

The Manager of the Gambia Association of Blood Donors (Gamblood) Batch Samba Njie described Gamblood as a Non-governmental Organization consisting of voluntary non-remunerated blood donors, who are committed to providing the nation with safe and adequate blood supply.

He said the association came into being after considering the recommendations made by the delegates of the executive committee meetings of the International Federation of Blood Donors Organization (IFBDO) in 1990. He said based on the appeal made by IFBDO in Geneva, a group of concerned Gambians who are regular donors formed the association.

“Gamblood has no government subvention, nor any kind of funding but instead lived on charities and good will of the people,” he said.