Of the 400,000 blood banks the country needs each year, only about 147,000 pints of blood are collected. To improve this small figure, the National Transfusion Service organized a three-week blood donation program across the country to increase the amount of blood in the country’s blood bank.
The Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachi, speaking at the ceremony in Yaounde on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, to celebrate World Donor Day, said that blood donation is necessary because it helps reduce suffering and deaths related to blood shortages. “There are about 782 deaths per 100,000 births in the country and nearly half of these cases are related to bleeding, emphasizing the need for people to donate blood during campaigns. Let’s all mobilize to save lives, “said Minister Malachi.
He went further by expressing his gratitude to those who regularly donate blood and insisted that blood donation is an act of generosity, solidarity and citizenship that saves thousands of lives every day.
The Director General of the National Transfusion Service, Dora Mbanya, said: “We encourage people to donate their blood freely, not necessarily because a family member or friend is in need. Our goal is to reach 3,000 health districts in this campaign.
The Cameroon Ministry of Public Health reported that in 2022, hospitals in the country were able to collect just over 120,000 pints of blood from voluntary donors, family members and friends of sick patients.
The government says that the need for blood donation in Cameroon is increasing due to conflicts in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country and fighting with Boko Haram militants on the Northern border with Nigeria.
This year’s World Donor Day is commemorated under the theme “Give blood, donate plasma, share life, share often”.
