Nigeria‘s apex blood regulatory body, the National Blood Service Commission has set 8th of December every year as National Blood Donor Day. Dr Osagie Enahire, Nigeria‘s minister of health announced this during the 63rd National Council on Health in Abuja. The blood body is saddled with the mandate to regulate, coordinate, and ensure the provision of safe, quality blood and blood products in a cost-effective and equitable manner to all who may need it in Nigeria.
Over the years, several challenges have hindered regular voluntary non-remunerated blood donation across Nigeria and include the low public awareness of voluntary blood donation and the benefits of safe blood donation, deep cultural myths, and misconceptions on voluntary blood donation by the public, lack of a voluntary blood donation culture in the country.
These challenges have led to the resultant enormous gaps in demand and supply of safe blood units for numerous medical and surgical conditions such as severe malaria, sickle cell disease and other blood disorders, cancers, severe kidney disease, road traffic accidents, and bleeding in pregnancy and childbirth in Nigeria.
Therefore, the regular voluntary donation of blood to populate our blood banks and make safe blood and blood products readily available for the management of Nigerians desperately in need of blood for any of the aforementioned conditions is a civic responsibility. Thus, in addition to addressing these awareness and behavioural challenges in the Nigerian populace, the National Blood Donor Day was also set aside to recognise and appreciate the heroic contributions of those Nigerians who have been regular voluntary blood donors.
Therefore, the objectives of the National Blood Donor Day asides providing an opportunity for Nigeria to spearhead the celebration of her voluntary blood donors, include the following:
- Promotion of voluntary blood donation as a civic responsibility and enhancement of citizen awareness through sensitisation, public enlightenment, and media engagement.
- Appreciation of regular, voluntary non-remunerated blood donors in Nigeria to acknowledge and celebrate their roles as heroes and invaluable contributors to the survival, health, and wellbeing of Nigerians through the donation of invaluable blood and blood products.
Globally, young people have been at the forefront of initiatives aimed at achieving safe blood supplies, and Nigeria is blessed with a majority proportion of her population being young people who have the potential to contribute enormously towards building and ensuring a national supply of safe blood and blood products. To showcase the vital role of youth in building a safe and sustainable blood supply, as part of the National Blood Donor Day events, earlier this week the Tertiary Education Blood Safety Club (TEBSC) was inaugurated nationally at a ceremony in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria. This initiative demonstrates the partnership between NBSC and the National Universities Commission, University Vice-Chancellors, and University undergraduates towards blood safety and regular voluntary blood donation. This builds on the previously inaugurated Secondary School Blood Safety Programme (SSBSP) in many secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory which seeks to educate students before the permitted age of blood donation and empower them to be advocates and champions for blood donation, and blood donors when they come of age.
As we mark the National Blood Donor Day in Nigeria – the first of its kind to be celebrated in the African region, I urge Nigerian youths and the public to embrace regular, voluntary, non-remunerated blood donations as a means of contributing and giving back to societal growth and development through this noble act that saves countless lives.
The mandate of the National Blood Service Commission is to regulate, coordinate, and ensure the provision of safe, quality blood and blood products equitably and cost-effectively to all who may need it in Nigeria with an emphasis on voluntary non-remunerated blood donors. This led to our strategizing on innovative pathways to take the organization and blood services in Nigeria forward. Towards the actualization of the first legal mandate of the Commission, it has been resolved that every Blood Establishment in Nigeria must be registered and licensed to operate by the NBSC. The term Blood Establishment thus connotes any facility which is involved in the collection, screening, processing, distribution, and/or transfusion of blood and blood products.
The Commission has thus approved the categorization of Blood Establishments into three levels: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Blood Establishment levels based on structure, range of personnel, equipment, and the services rendered.
Therefore, ANY operational blood establishment in Nigeria must be inspected and certified after meeting all the requirements of the Commission, including the payment of the applicable fees as prescribed by the Commission. Any such establishment that fails to register with the NBSC shall face appropriate sanctions as contained in both the National Health Act 2014 and the National Blood Service Commission Act 2021.
To effectively carry out this regulatory function, the NBSC with support from the Federal Ministry of Health has constituted a task force that will embark on the inspection of blood establishments across Nigeria in a bid to ensure compliance with the country’s legislative requirements for the highest standards in blood safety and overall improvement in patient health outcomes in Nigeria. These inspections would serve to convey the legislative mandate of NBSC to regulate all blood establishments in Nigeria, towards ensuring the safety, and quality of all blood and blood products for Nigerians.
An innate human desire is the need to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Regular, voluntary non-remunerated blood donation is therefore a simple, safe, and effective way to make the biggest difference of all: to regularly give blood to save lives. As we celebrate and honor those who have been consistently donating blood voluntarily to save lives, we also use this opportunity to call on others to join their ranks.
The NBSC is therefore leading various stakeholders across multiple sectors in the celebration of this inaugural National Blood Donor Day on 8th December 2022 with the theme Donating Blood is a Civic Responsibility: Donate today and save a life.
Safe blood saves lives.
An adaptation of Dr. Osagie Ehanire‘s speech at the declaration of national Blood Donor Day 2022.
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