KAMPALA — Uganda’s leading beer company in partnership with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services and Red Cross has today June 14 launched a blood donation drive for 800 units for a period of three days.
The launch of the donation which is in line with the commemoration of the world blood donor day was held at the constitutional square, in Kampala.
This year’s World Blood Donor Day 2022 is themed “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives” which aims to draw attention to the roles that voluntary blood donations play in saving lives and enhancing solidarity within communities.
Nile Breweries Limited Legal and Corporate Affairs director, Onapito Ekomoloit reaffirmed the company’s commitment to support life-saving and improving initiatives, such as blood donation.
He explained that they focus on empowering local communities with information, skills and life improvement tools of which mobilizing blood to save more lives is one of them and they are pleased to partner with URCS, UBTS and Uganda Traffic Police in this noble cause.
“We have for long promoted blood donation campaigns. In the city, there is always susceptibility to accidents. Nile hopes that working together with partners to donate blood will help in these deaths that would have been brought by accidents. We believe in working with the government, academia, civil society and the media to drive good causes in the country,” he said.
Onapito also revealed that the blood donation campaign would enable the company to draw attention to road safety during this period, since accident victims have been identified as among patients needing blood most.
Dr Okwera Josephine, the Director Health and Social Services, URCS while officiating at the blood mobilization drive said that through an MOU with Ministry of Health, URCS, working closely with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS), is mandated to carry out blood donor recruitment and mobilization countrywide.
She said that having partners such as NBL join the blood mobilization drive reassures their commitment to partnerships that bring lasting social value for the wellbeing of communities they serve.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Charles Olaro, the Director in charge of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health said blood is a critical requirement for human beings and it can only be obtained through donations.
He explained that they require at least one percent of the country’s population in the form of blood units.
“As we commemorate the day, we should look at the four objectives of thanking donors in the world, creating awareness of unpaid donation and highlighting the need for year round donation. We also need to recognize voluntary unpaid blood donation in communities and awareness for the government to build sustainable blood banks,” Dr.Olaro said.
SP Nsereko Kawuma Rogers, the KMP traffic commander urged Nile Breweries to continue disseminating information about their ‘don’t drink and drive’ campaign since the biggest number of accidents on the road are caused by people who do contrary to what the campaign suggests.
“We need to ensure our blood banks don’t go empty. We also need to be cognizant to keep our blood healthy. We lose many people in accidents annually and many of these are due to loss of blood.”
The three-day donation will be in Kampala in three locations, Jinja two locations and Mbarara three locations.