NGO urges Nigerians to donate blood to save lives

De Norsemen Kclub International (DNKI), a humanitarian organisation, has urged Nigerians to donate blood in order to save lives. The Chairman, DNKI, Abuja Chapter, Mr Kolawole Otepola, made this call on Friday at the Wuse District Hospital, Abuja, during the organisation's visit to hospitals to commemorate 2024 World Blood Donor Day. According to Otepola, blood is God given; hence the need to reach out to others who do not have; who cannot pay and donate freely from what God has freely given. He said that blood donation was what the organisation did on a yearly basis. 'This time, we chose Wuse hospital because we looked around; we have been to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, Abuja six times; we have been to Maitama and Gwarinpa. 'So, we decided to go somewhere new this time; we decided to go to where our impacts will be further felt; where we have not gone before,' he said. He advised that Nigerians should make use of the opportunity to turn out and donate blood to save lives and help humanity. In his response, Dr Oluseyi Asaolu, Medical Director, Wuse District Hospital, said that blood was life and the act of donating it reduced the rate of death. 'Blood is very crucial to human life; everybody needs blood; when you make that intervention to donate blood, it becomes a saving moment for someone in need. 'It is a beautiful initiative when the world does a blood donation day; we are happy that this has been sustained even up till now. 'There is a need to donate blood; there is nothing you are doing with the blood just storing it there and the good thing is that if you donate blood, the body has a way of replenishing it, so it is a win-win for everybody. 'We really want to appreciate DNKI that considered Wuse District Hospital, for bringing people to donate and support what we are doing here,'' he said. Asaolu said that Wuse District Hospital had one of the best blood donation and blood transfusion services. He said that the hospital maintained the services and screened blood properly before adminis tering to the patient. Mr Ogbobe Mathew, a member DNKI, said rendering humanitarian services to people in need was the organisation's culture and what it did every year. 'When the organisation came up with the blood donation thing, we discussed it knowing that giving our blood will save lives 'You never can tell whose life the blood is going to be safe. 'We tend to render humanitarian service like helping people in need in order to make the society a better place,' he said Source: News Agency of Nigeria