The Federal Government has designated December 8, 2022, as National Blood Donor Day in Nigeria.
This appears to follow the government’s continued commitment to ensuring the availability of healthy and sufficient blood for Nigerians in need.
The National Blood Service Commission announced this in a press release signed by Haruna Abdullahi, Head of Media and Publicity.
While inaugurating the National Central Planning Committee in Abuja on Tuesday, the Acting Director General of the National Blood Service, Dr. Omale Amedu, emphasised the need for the committee to strategize on ways to promote voluntary blood donation as a civic responsibility.
Amedu also entrusted the committee with making sure that all blood establishments and hospitals work together to provide the country with sufficient quantities of safe blood and blood products while also satisfactorily acknowledging voluntary blood donors.
Universal Health Coverage cannot be achieved without a nation wide availability and accessibility of safe, high-quality blood and blood products, he maintained.
According to Amedu’s statement, βDecember 8 is chosen as national day of blood donation in response to the need to domesticate the importance of blood as a serious human need and to raise the local content initiative where the Nigerian peculiarities are brought to the fore.
βThis National Blood Donor Day is modelled after the World Blood Donor Day celebrated globally on June 14.β
The Nigerian Medical Association, the Federal Road Safety Corps, APIN Public Health Initiatives, the Center for Integrated Health Programs, the National Orientation Agency, the National Health Insurance Authority, the National Youth Service Corps, the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, the media, and other implementing partners are members of the newly formed committee.
