The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo has advised healthy people to donate blood volountarily, saying “I have been donating blood every three months for humantarian reasons since my second year in the University in 1984.”
Otegbayo who made this statement shortly after his routine voluntary blood donation at the Hospital’s blood bank on Tuesday, 21st July, 2020 pointed out that voluntary blood donation helps to save lives. He said “there are a lot of people that need blood and due to its nature, it can not be manufactured. Through voluntary donation, I believe I am helping a fellow human being to survive and I have been driven by this fulfillment to save lives for over three decades.”
“As a medical practitioner, professionally, It is my obligation to save the lives of my clients but what of the countless number of people out there that need blood to survive whom I do not know?”, he opined.
The CMD also drew attention to the unintended benefits of blood donation saying “after donating, the blood is screened for hepatitis and other blood related diseases,” this, according to him, will alert the donor on the need to seek early treatment.
While responding to the gesture, a Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist at the Phelebotomy Unit, Mrs. Tolulope Akinyemi said “seeing Prof. Otegbayo here today again is very encouraging. He comes frequently to donate and that speaks volume of his milk of human kindness.”
She asked that potential donors seek ways of donating blood. According to her, “a donor upon presenting his donor card is entitled to blood at the point of need so people need not wait until they have patients before they choose to donate blood.”
Consequently, she asserted that donating blood comes with a lot of benefits, both to the donor and the recipient. “A donors blood is screened for possible infections and the recipient’s live is saved.”
“Voluntary non-renumated blood donation must be therefore encouraged in our country so that we can meet up with the WHO prescribed blood donor statistics.” She added.
