Expert Charges Nigerians On Regular Blood Donation

Dr. Babatunde Tayo doing check up for a donor

Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji

ABEOKUTA - As the world celebrate Blood Donor Day, a medical expert, Dr. Babatunde Tayo has advised Nigerians to embark on regular blood donation to avoid untimely death and unknown diseases.

Dr. Tayo who is the Ogun State Coordinator, National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), Abeokuta noted that regular blood donation helps in detecting early health challenges.

He disclosed this on Sunday at the celebration of 2020 World Blood Donor Day held at the state General Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta.

He said this year's celebration was to appreciate the donors for their voluntary donation and timely response without monetary inducement.

He added that, regular blood donation leads to early detection of hypertension in man and reduces other health risk, saying the benefits are enormous.

The NBTS state coordinator further explained that, regular blood donation reduces health risk and untimely death.

"The importance of today's celebration is to appreciate our various donors who have been patronizing and coming up to donate here every year. In time past, what we are having is some touts coming up and saying they want to donate because someone is going to give them money, but this is purely voluntary. 

"For instance, we just don't grab people and then start bleeding, there are certain criteria that we have to look out for in those volunteers. So its not automatic that anybody that comes here must be bled.

" So, what we first do is take the vital signs. Some people never knew that they are hypertensive until they presented for blood donation and by the time you take their blood pressure, and you are seeing 160, 100, and you are asking the man, he will say sorry I don't know  have anything like that, such person is a candidate for sudden death, but if such volunteer come to donate, he had been safe for embarrassment of people saying it is one village witch that killed him and he will be able to take care of himself there after. 

"Then, apart from that when we take the blood for screening, we screen for TTIs means Transfusion transmitted infections, they are Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV 1&2, and Syphilis. So some people use to say that AIDS no dey show for face, so most of these infections are like that, so the only time some people know that they are HIV positive is when they come for blood donation or they have hyperthitis B or hyperthitis C and be treated because if not treated, it can become chronic and result in cancer of the liver in which ever way, the person will die before his or her time which is not suppose to be so."