The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has partnered the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) to undertake a countrywide blood donation drive aimed at collecting 3,000 litres of safe blood.
The week-long drive, which was launched on Tuesday, is expected to increase the country’s stock of blood reserves this year. Speaking during the launch of the drive at their offices in Kampala, NSSF managing director Richard Byarugaba said they plan to cover about nine major towns, including Jinja, Hoima, Masaka, Mbale and Arua. Others are Gulu, Fort Portal, Mbarara and Lira.
“This is something annual that we have been doing only in Kampala but this time round we have extended it to other parts of the country to increase our coverage,” he explained.
Over the past five years of their partnership, NSSF and UBTS have collected more than 6,700 units of blood from staff and the general public in similar campaigns. Byarugaba said the public response in the recent past has encouraged them to reach out to more people.
“I am glad that Ugandans are responding to our calls and, hopefully, we can collect up to our target at the end of this week. This is a noble exercise that I call upon all of them to support,” he added.
Speaking at the same launch, the director of UTBS, Dr Dorothy Kyeyune, said the country needs 340,000 units of blood to adequately supply all hospitals, a target they have never achieved.
According to reports by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Uganda collects an average of 200,000 units of blood annually, leaving a deficit of 140,000 units.
“Last year, we collected 247,711 units from all initiatives, which were still not enough to meet the demand. Initiatives like this organised by NSSF will give us the much-needed boost since our primary blood donors, the students, are currently on holiday,” she said.
Dr Kyeyune added that despite the current low supply, the demand for blood is expected to rise due to the surge in the numbers of people suffering from cancer, those in need of surgery and the drought that has hit the country for the past year.
UTBS has seven regional blood banks across the country with six collection centres to support them. At least 80 per cent of the blood donated is collected from students while only one per cent of people eligible to donate blood regularly do so.
Currently, according to Dr Kyeyune, districts experiencing blood shortage include Kampala, Gulu, Masaka and Mukono.
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