Lesotho commemorates World Blood Donor Day
World blood Donor Day was commemorated on June 14th in Maseru District. This year is the 10th anniversary of the institution of World Blood Donor Day and was celebrated under the theme: “Every blood donation is a gift of life”.
Lesotho has a strong blood donation service and chose to mark the 10th anniversary with a ceremony at the Victoria Hotel, in Maseru, congratulating the contributions by blood donors across the country throughout the years.
The event was graced by the presence of the Honorable Minister of Health Dr. Pinkie Manamolela, The World Health Organization Country Representative Dr. Mufunda, the acting Director of General Health Services Dr. McPherson, the Director of the Lesotho Blood Transfusion Service (LBTS) Mrs Maleqhoa Nyopa, and members of the blood donation and recipient communities.
Mrs Nyopa opened the ceremony with some wel-come remarks and a history of the Lesotho Blood Transfusion Service, which began in 2006 and has since then gone from strength to strength, despite human resource issues they have been faced with. She finished by thanking all blood donors for their generous act of saving so many lives, particularly those of pregnant woman.
In his speech, Dr. Mufunda commended Lesotho for its efforts to have 100% safe, voluntary donated blood products but also stressed there are challenges facing blood safety in Lesotho including ‘staff shortages at LBTS, inadequate vehicles to support blood collection and distribution of screened blood to health facilities and inability to meet national demand for safe blood by hospitals’. He went on to express that ‘together we can try and work through these challenges so that Lesotho can reach the global goal of 100% self-sufficiency by 2020’.
The Keynote address was delivered by the Minister of Health, Dr. Pinkie Manamolela. She pledged to give support to clubs, like Makaota Life Savers Donor Club, which encourage youth to stay HIV free and donate blood. The Minister also praised the great work being done by the transfusion service. ‘LBTS managed to raise blood donations collected from 3,000 in 2009 to 5,600 units in 2011 and a substantial 7,500 units in 2012. This year 2013, LBTS is expected to collect blood over 8000 which will have us on track to reaching 100% self-sufficiency within a few years.
Awards were then presented to milestone donors. After the ceremony the LBTS were pre-sent and participants were invited to donate blood. For information on donating please call LBTS on 22 31 6091.
