Donate blood to save lives-Call

ZANZIBAR: PRIVATE and Public institutions have been asked to put in place a system for blood donation from workers to save people’s lives, particularly during emergencies in hospitals.

The call was made by the Assistant General Manager of the Sea Clif Resort, a tourist Hotel in Zanzibar, Monica Mgaye, during the blood donation exercise held at the hotel, Mangapwani in Unguja North B district.

She said Zanzibar, like many developing countries, has a great need for blood, as the hotel staff donated 100 units of blood.

“We urge other Hotels, NGOs, and government institutions to mobilize their staff to donate blood regularly,” she said.

Ms Mgaye said their hotel decided to mobilize blood donation among its staff in support of the government’s efforts to improve health services for all citizens, including availability of blood for pregnant mothers and women who have given birth, children and victims of accidents.

The Human Resource Manager of the Hotel, Barik Shayo said, they are happy to organize blood donation events for the third time since the hotel was established, enabling them to become official members of blood donors.

He said it was also part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and that other companies and hotels can learn from them so that enough blood is collected to save lives.

Dr Masoud Ali Masoud, Blood Bank Manager, Ministry of Health thanked the hotel for initiating blood donation.

“We highly need blood in hospitals. Our target is to collect at least 20,000 units of blood this year, but so far we have managed to collect only 16,000,” he said.