Dr. Madewa Adebajo, Medical Director, Alimosho General Hospital, Igando, on Monday urged Nigerians to embrace blood donation as a regular practice to help sustain patients in need of blood.

Madewa made the remarks during an event organized by the hospital to mark the 2020 World Blood Donor Day in Igando, Lagos State.

The Newsmen reports that World Blood Donor Day, commemorated every June 14, globally is to create awareness on the need for regular blood donations to save lives.

The event was also used to appreciate the voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gift of blood.

Adebajo said that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic should not deter people from donating blood, noting that blood samples taken from donors did not enhance the cross-transmission of the virus to other patients.

The Medical Director said: “Blood donation should be a regular practice among the citizenry, especially for those who actually require it, because it is a life-saving gesture that should be embraced.

“COVID-19 is not identified in the blood following various studies, but, rather, the respiratory tract.

“The virus is only predominant in the respiratory tract of the infected carrier, so such blood samples are bereft of any form of cross-transmission to users.

“The blood could only have antibodies, probably from previously infected people, but definitely, not one that poses danger to prospective patients using such blood samples.”

Madewa said that the hospital already had a committee that sensitized communities within the locality to the importance of blood donation to meet its demand for blood.

He said that the Lagos State Ministry of Health had always called for constant blood donation to meet the 260,000 units of blood required for victims annually in the state.

“Alimosho is a rather large community, which calls for 24 hours weekly supply of blood. We are already sensitizing communities to imbibed voluntary blood donation culture for ample blood supply,” he said.

Mr. Abdulsalam Mubarak, the President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jumat blood donation team, told reporters that blood donation was a binding practice for its members.

Mubarak said that the practice was an inculcating habit since childhood for all its members, even as blood-building strategies were put in place to sustain such doctrine amongst them.

“This is a worldwide Islamic Society that has a motto, “Love for all, hatred for none.

“It is imperative to imbibe a non-monetary valued gesture and preserving humanity is a priority to us through blood donation,” he said.