LSBTS urges Lagosians to cultivate voluntary blood donating habit

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(By Temitope Obayendo)

As the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Services, LSBTS, takes its state-wide blood donor drive to the Agege area of the state, Lagosians have been urged to imbibe the culture of voluntary blood donation and shun any form of financial reward.

Making the call during a blood donor drive exercise by LBSTS in collaboration with Women Development Centre (WDC) recently in Lagos, assistant director of the Centre, Mr. Deji Adelugba, decried the attitude of Lagosians towards blood donation.

According to Adelugba, voluntary blood donation should be seen as a major way of saving lives and not for financial gain. “If you look at the situation generally, you will find that getting matching blood for accident victims has remained a serious problem in most of our hospitals, and donating blood will also help to stamp out the no blood syndrome in our various blood banks, especially now that we are having more accidents on our roads.”

“People should be interested in blood donation because life resides in the blood. It is a good exercise. There is much to benefit from blood donation.  You will appreciate blood donation only when you lose a relative, due to shortage of blood.”

He called for more awareness creation on the importance of donating blood, benefits to donors and to the entire society.

Adelugba blamed the poor attitude to blood donation on ignorance. “People are not even aware that excessive blood in the system is also a problem.” Some of the donors who attended the campaign said it was a refreshing experience.

According to 32 year-old Bakare Olabisi, “It is my first time to donate blood. I never knew there was nothing much in it. It is easy. I encourage Nigerians to please donate to save a life.”  On his part, Abdulfatai  Kelani urged Nigerians not to be scared but to see the exercise as an opportunity to save a life.