As Nigeria joins the global community on Monday to mark the 2021 World Blood Donor Day, medical experts have urged Nigerians to donate blood, noting that it helps to save lives.
The experts also urged Nigerians not to be afraid that their blood could be used for ritual or diabolical purposes, stressing that blood donated in hospitals is used for medical purposes only.
The experts identified culture, traditional beliefs, and lack of awareness as major issues preventing Nigerians from donating blood.
The physicians noted that pregnant women who are giving birth, road traffic accident victims, people with sickle cell disease, as well as cancer patients require lots of blood and transfusion.
World Blood Donor Day takes place on 14 June each year. The day aims to raise global awareness on the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion, as well as the critical contribution voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems.
The day also provides an opportunity to call to action to governments and national health authorities to provide adequate resources and establish systems and infrastructures to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors.
Speaking in an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, a Consultant PaediatricHaematologist and Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Prof. EdamisanTemiye, said while donating blood is lifesaving, cultural belief remains a major obstacle to blood donation in Nigeria.
Prof. Temiye, said, “Our belief system is affecting blood donation, as well as our attitude to health. The attitude of people to health is poor.
“The belief by many Nigerians that when they donate blood, it will be used for ritual purposes is a major problem. Some say that they don’t have enough blood, forgetting that before they donate blood, they will be screened whether they are fit for the donation or not.”
The haematologist said the approach in Nigeria where family members are compelled to donate blood for their loved ones during emergencies is wrong, insisting that voluntary blood donation is the way to go.
“What we are passing through in Nigeria is not ideal. If your relation wants to go for surgery, then a family member must be asked to donate blood because there is a shortage of blood in the blood bank. But if people go to donate blood voluntarily and there is blood in our blood banks, you don’t need to compel anybody to donate blood because blood is already available.
But because we don’t have people voluntarily coming to donate blood, family members are always compelled to donate blood when their loved ones are sick and require a blood transfusion. This is not the best”, he said.
According to experts, Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, requires two million units [pints] of blood annually, but only 150,000 units are available at any given time.
Indeed, at the 2019 World Blood Donor Day, Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, AbdullahiMashi, stated that at least two million units of blood donation will be critically needed that year alone.
Also speaking, Head, Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Dr. Innocent Abang, said some people are afraid of donating blood because of “our culture and belief system.”
Dr. Abang who is the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Cross River State chapter, said some people have the erroneous belief that donating blood could harm them.
The orthopaedic surgeon explained, “Actually, the traditional belief is a big problem to blood donation. In Nigeria, some people think that if they donate blood, they may use it for something diabolical. That is what is affecting blood donation. But we make them know that this blood they donate is not for ritual purposes but is kept in the blood bank and given to patients.
“I don’t expect people to even believe that their blood would be used for ritual purposes in the hospital. We don’t have any other function for blood donation other than to keep it and then give it to patients who deserve blood donation.”
