The Nigerian Military has called for volun- tary blood donation by more Nigerians to help save the lives of secu- rity personnel and civilians injured in counter-insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
Nathan Okeji, com- mander, Military Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, made this appeal at the Armed Forces Blood Centre during the commemoration of the 2015 World Blood Donor Day in Port Harcourt.
He said the military had begun collecting blood from donors for this purpose, say- ing many military personnel and civilians who needed blood urgently could not afford it as a unit of blood costs N50,000.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set aside today to celebrate and encourage people to freely donate blood to save the lives of accident victims and surgery patients, among others.
“This blood donation exercise is targeted at getting as much blood as possible to enable patients who need
blood have access to it at little or no cost,” Okeji said.
Okeji, who is also the coordinator of Armed Forc- es Blood Bank, said more than 200 units of blood were needed for distribution to injured military personnel and civilians nationwide, adding “when more than 200 units of blood are realised, they will be taken to North East and the Niger Delta – where there are problems of Boko Haram and militancy.
“We are asking that as many people as possible should come out and freely donate blood, so that lives can be saved.”
According to the commander, the exercise also affords donors the opportunity to be freely screened for HIV and other blood-related ailments.
Similarly, Umah Imao- bong, chief nursing officer of the Federal Ministry of Health and Donor Care Manager, said the nation needed at least 10,000 units of blood monthly, as 200 units of blood currently re- alised on monthly basis was grossly inadequate, adding that there was severe shortage of blood in hospitals across the country.
“Blood is not something that can be substituted. When a doctor says a pa-tient needs blood, there is no other alternative than to provide the blood. Failure to provide the blood will lead to death of the patient,” she said.
Accident victims, sickle cell carriers, pregnant wom- en, surgery and HIV patients, among others, needed blood on daily basis to survive, she noted further, as “thousands of people are dying on daily because they cannot have access to blood; whereas, their lives could have been saved, if people made it a habit to donate blood.”
Imaobong called on members of the public be- tween the ages of 18 and 65 to visit military hospitals to donate blood.
The News Agency of Ni- geria reports that hundreds of people took part in street procession in Port Harcourt to create awareness on the World Blood Donor Day to be celebrated on Sunday.
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