Schools Blood Drive to Target Young Donors

Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, has said that the Schools Blood Drive Competition will be a critical component in promoting the habit of voluntary blood donation among persons aged 17 years and older.
“In targeting young people, we are trying to have a consistent source of blood donors,” Dr. Campbell-Forrester said during the launch of the competition at the Ministry of Health and Environment offices in downtown Kingston, recently.
“These persons are in the prime of their lives and are often the ones who are free of physical ailment, so this will make them able to donate regularly,” she added.
Dr. Campbell-Forrester said that in the six decades that the Blood Bank has been in existence, there has been a constant struggle to meet the national demand for blood, with only approximately 25 per cent to 50 per cent of the need being filled.
“The shortage of blood is the main purpose of us being here at this launch. The purpose is to increase the quantity, if we are going to reach the 50,000 units that we really need per year,” she noted.
She pointed out that proper eating habit was an essential element of donating safe blood and encouraged everyone to “embrace a healthy lifestyle.”
“Proper eating habits, regular exercise, adequate rest, safe sexual practices, refraining from smoking and frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages are key components of a healthy lifestyle,” she added.
The objective of the competition is to organize a blood drive throughout 20 schools islandwide, with the target of collecting 2,000 units of blood.
It will be done under the theme, ‘Students Save Lives Too…As Voluntary Blood Donors’.
It is a collaborative effort involving the Ministry, the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and GlaxoSmithKline, among others.