Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Canadian High Commission helps in blood drive
Research around the world has proven that safe blood comes from voluntary donors since they are more honest during the screening session.
This is according to Head of the Blood Donor Department within the Blood Transfusion Unit, Shameeza Mangal.
Speaking during a blood donation drive at the Canadian High Commission, Mangal pointed out that the reason why there is a blood shortage is because the National Blood Transfusion Service has not been collecting enough blood.
Donating the gift of life. Wilton Lawrence, an employee of the Canadian High Commission donating blood yesterday
“We have since embarked on sensitizing the public about this effort…with that we have individual persons coming in and walking in as voluntarily donors…we have organizations, with which we have collaborated that have repeated the blood drive,” Mangal said.
She added that Guyanese are not familiar with the blood culture.
“We are trying to introduce this so that persons can become voluntary unpaid donors. Traditionally, we are accustomed to donating blood only when a loved one is in the hospital but we want to move away from that crisis situation,” she said.
With the ‘Good Samaritan’ programme, which encourages persons to donate blood voluntarily, there has been a 60 percent increase in the number of donors.
“A lot of family replacement donors have now become voluntary donors,” she added.
A blood shortage, she noted, is not like a sugar, rice or gasoline shortage.
“There is no mandate formula that can be used as a substitute and at the same time animal blood is not compatible to human and not only do we want blood but we want safe blood,” Mangal said.
But Mangal is not the only person that believes that Guyanese are not familiar with the ‘blood culture’ as the nurse attached to the Canadian High Commission, Chandra Viapree, expressed her concerns about the local population.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Ms Viapree said that while this is the second time the High Commission is hosting such a drive, many of the local staff are hesitant to donate blood.
She noted that the local employees are a bit scared and as such need to be more sensitized.
Following her donation, Jean Lowry of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), said that this is the first time she was donating blood.
She said that she thought the process would be very difficult, but yesterday’s process was ‘very easy and simple.’
“I always wanted to donate blood. It is not a good scenario when the blood bank has to be calling on the public to donate and as such this motivated me.”
A number of employees from the Canadian Embassy, British High Commission, United Nations Development Programme and CIDA offices donated blood yesterday.
Among them were the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Fraser Wheeler and his wife.
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