MBTS hails Blantyre youth
The Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS) has urged the country’s youth to donate blood during school holidays to help save lives in the country’s hospitals.
MBTS medical officer Dr. Stephen Njolomole said this after 11 members of the newly-established Blantyre Youth Group (BYG) donated blood at the institution’s head office in Blantyre.
He said: “We mostly rely on school-going youth who donate blood on a monthly basis. But we always experience a significant drop in blood donations whenever schools are on holidays as is the case at present. This is why we urge youth groups such as BYG to make it a habit to donate blood during such holidays.”
According to Njolomole, they require at least 80 000 units of blood per year to satisfy the need in the country’s hospitals.
He said in a country of over 16 million people, they need 25 000 dedicated individuals only to donate blood in every three to four months to meet their annual requirement.
BYG deputy chairperson Maggie Banda, whose organisation also cleaned Blantyre Market car park and vending place, said they will always be proactive as regards donating blood.
“As youths, we have so much energy to continuously donate blood and it is our responsibility to help save lives of people who lack blood in our hospitals. From now on, we will make donating blood a habit,” she said.
BYG made the donation as a way of celebrating the International Youth Day which falls on August 12 every year since 1999. This year’s theme was ‘The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production’.
