Blood bank able to meet festive season demand

There is enough blood to cater for all emergencies during the festive season, the National Blood Services of Zimbabwe (NBSZ) said yesterday.

NBSZ urged people not to panic since it managed to collect enough units to cater for all eventualities.

In an interview yesterday, NBSZ spokesperson Ms Esther Massundah, said blood stocks were stable for the festive season.

"We are able to meet demand of blood this festive season because we managed to collect adequate blood during the youth donor day campaign and also with other blood campaigns still going on until January," she said.

Although she could not state how much blood was collected, Ms Massundah said their target was 9 135 units.

"We had a target of collecting 9 135 units of blood and we are grateful to those who donated the blood as we managed to collect quite a number of blood units for the festive season," she said.

Ms Massundah urged people to donate blood and urged motorists to drive carefully to avoid loss of lives.

"Accidents deeply impact the blood bank stocks, hence the need for people to donate blood so that it is available when it is needed."

Ms Massundah said they had also partnered with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and other stakeholders in a campaign aimed at reducing road carnages.

The NBSZ collects blood from donors, the majority of whom are the youths.

Concerns have, however, been raised over the high cost of blood but the NBSZ has justified the price, saying it was not cheap to screen and process blood.

Demand for blood normally rises during the festive period as the number of people injured in road accidents normally goes up.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), blood collection from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors was the main element of a safe and sufficient blood supply.