Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) has teamed up with Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) to mobilize 800 units of blood over a 3-day period in Kampala, Jinja and Mbarara districts.
Uganda is mandated to raise 1% of the country’s total population in form of blood units as per global standards (WHO guidelines).
Uganda requires 450,000 units of blood annually to meet the blood needs of a population of 45 million people.
However, due to several factors, many times the country collects an average of 300,000 units.
Speaking at the launch held at City Square in Kampala, Dr. Charles Olaro, the Director in charge of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health, said the commemoration of the world blood donor day is important because it is blood that drives life.
“That is why, if you donate blood, you can save a life. As we all know, there is no replacement or substitute for blood. So, the main users of blood definitely are the pregnant mothers (when they look for blood during childbirth), children with anemia, among others. As a country, we require almost 1% of the population and this has to come from people,” Dr. Olaro said.
He noted that the process of donating blood is an aspect of solidarity since it involves saving of lives.
Meanwhile, Dr Okwera Josephine, the Director Health and Social Services at URCS, said URCS continues to broaden its base of blood donors in the community through its members, volunteers, partnerships with cultural institutions and corporate organizations.
She said this has led to a significant increase in the amount of blood mobilized even during the school closure for about two years (2020-2021) to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In 2021 alone, out of the 152,891 units mobilized by URCS, 29,982 (20%) were from schools/institutions while 122,909 (80%) were from the community.
On her part, Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune, the Executive Director Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS), said blood and blood products are essential resources for effective management of patients requiring special care.
“These include women suffering from bleeding associated with pregnancy and childbirth; children suffering from severe anemia due to malaria and malnutrition; patients with blood and bone marrow disorders, inherited disorders of haemoglobin and immune deficiency conditions, victims of trauma (accidents); as well as patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures,”
The donation drive in commemoration of World Blood Donor Day 2022 is themed, “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives” which aims to draw attention to the roles that voluntary blood donations play in saving lives and enhancing solidarity within communities.
URCS in partnership with UBTS launched a blood donor recruitment strategy in 2020 where the URCS committed resources including its volunteer network to donate, mobilize blood and take blood to the community level, as well as bringing more partners on board to compliment the efforts.
Dr Okwero said through an MoU with Ministry of Health, URCS, working closely with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS), is mandated to carry out blood donor recruitment and mobilization countrywide, and NBL coming on board, is a good relief.
“Having partners such as NBL join the blood mobilization drive reassures our commitment to partnerships that bring lasting social value for the wellbeing of communities we serve,” she added.
Onapito Ekomoloit, the Legal and Corporate Affairs Director Nile Breweries Limited, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to support life-saving and improving initiatives, such as blood donation.
“Our dream is to create a future with more cheers, this means working with government, law enforcement, public safety organizations, academia, other companies, and civil society to enable a sustainable future for communities and improve their lives,” he said.
He added: “We focus on empowering local communities with information, skills and life improvement tools, of which mobilizing blood to save more lives is one of them, and we are pleased to partner with URCS, UBTS and Uganda Traffic Police in this noble cause.”
NBL will also donate a bar of soap to each blood donor at all the locations to assist in promoting hygiene amid the high commodity prices.
Onapito also revealed that the blood donation campaign would enable the company draw attention to road safety during this period since accident victims have been identified among patients needing blood.
Uganda Traffic Police statistics show that 118 people were killed in road crashes between April 24 and May 4 this year alone.
“In response to the call to the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety from the United Nations, our mother company, ABInBev has put in motion plans and actions to improve road safety around the world, we want to help achieve the goal of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50 between 2021 – 2030,” he said.
The Kampala Metropolitan Traffic Police Commander, SP Rogers Nsereko Kawuma, said: “You will never understand the problem of not being able to find blood until such a time when, God forbid, it’s your time to have a transfusion or your loved ones. So, we need to ensure that our blood supply doesn’t go empty because that will mean more loss of lives.”