On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day commemorated on
June 14, KMN talked to Saio Y. Koroma, Medical Laboratory Officer at the
National Blood Bank at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
We started by asking Mr
Koroma to give us an overview of the state of the blood bank.
Koroma: The government
and its partners have tried hard to set the stage for people to donate blood from
time to time, but it’s unfortunate that the public is not responding positively.
One thing we need to know is that up until now we have not
been able to get a substitute for blood, despite the intervention of
scientists… In medical delivery, they have been able to make a lot of
commodities with which lives of patients are saved. For example, we have tablets,
capsules and injections at our disposal to alleviate pain.
But when someone is short of blood, they have not been able
to produce something to sell. And we are not able to get people to come and
donate.
KMN: When you say the
public is not responding, how do you mean?
Koroma: It is not
that people are not coming at all. We have three types of blood donations.
Firstly, there are the family or friend replacement donors.
This category donates when family members or friends are sick and in need of blood.
Secondly, there are the commercial donors. They only donate
in exchange for money.
Thirdly, there is the voluntary blood donor group. They come
from time to time and voluntarily donate for safe keeping. These are the people
who WHO [World Health Organisation] says to encourage. Their blood is not only
available for family and friend, but for anyone in emergency. We use such to
save lives.
What’s the current
quantity of blood in the bank?
Well, we can’t possibly estimate it nationally, because as we
collect blood we use it. But I can say that we do not have enough blood in the
bank because of apathy by the public to donate voluntarily.
The only frequent donors are people whose family members
need blood. Even among these people, it is always difficult to convince many.
The blood donation criteria include:
1.
Age: 17 and not more than 60
2.
We check the amount of your blood to ensure you
have enough for yourself. The measurement we use is in grams per deciliter. For
men, they must have 12.5 grams per deciliter of blood within their system. For
women, they must have 11.5 gram per deciliter.
3.
You must also weigh at least 50 kilograms.
4.
You should have no tattoo. No septic wounds, and
should not have undergone a major operation within the last three month. Asthma
patients are also exempted.
5.
Pregnant women and suckling mothers, especially
within the first six months, are also exempted. There are many other criteria involved.
 |
| A blood bag |
What should people eat
to be able to donate blood
Blood is a natural gift. We should eat well balanced diets,
including carbohydrates, fat and oil, minerals and all the rest; just the normal
staple foods. You should also drink enough water and have adequate rest.
People should also know that every day we make new blood and
every day we lose old blood, because they are living cells. If the bone marrow
produces blood cells today, it lives for a maximum of 120 days within the body
and die out. Others are manufactured. So there is no need to fear. We produce
blood just as we lose them.
(Interview conducted
by Yangie Debora-Sesay and transcribed and edited from Krio to English by Kemo
Cham)
No comments:
Post a Comment