Aime Gaspard Taramirwa, 26, donates blood at least three times a year since he was still a student at university in 2016.
He happily does so. While Covid-19 has impacted his donation schedule and its induced shutdown, he has no plans to quit so long as he has all the requirements.
For him, blood donation offers society shared benefits given that it saves lives.
Taramirwa is also well aware that he might eventually be on the receiving end one day.
“I might not be in need of blood transfusion right now, but I know someone somewhere is and I am saving them just like anyone may save me when I need it,” he sais
Taramirwa is one of many Rwandans who donate more than 90,000 units of blood voluntarily each year.
The world celebrates such people every year on June 14th, through what is now known as World Blood Donor Day.
The Blood Donor Day this year comes in the midst of the Covid-19 challenges, meaning that national celebrations cannot be held while blood donation activities are also affected.
It also comes when the National Center for Blood Transfusion (NCBT) says that every year only 0.6% of Rwandans donate blood.
This is well below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that at least one per cent of the population should donate blood in order to bridge the blood transfusion deficit.
So, given that Rwanda is 0.4 percentage point below the WHO standard, is the country experiencing a blood product deficit?
“No, we do not have a deficit of blood products,” says Dr. Swaibu Gatare, the Division Manager of the NCBT at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Dr. Gatare disclosed that the blood that donated cater for an average of 97 per cent of the clinical blood demand in the country.
Blood demand in hospitals in 2019 was 102.145 units, he said. Just 91,960 units were supplied, or 93 per cent of the demand.
Dr. Gatare insists the deficit is not significant , especially given the decline in blood demand in Rwanda over the last few years.
The trend, he said, is caused by the fact that there has been a sharp drop in traffic accidents and maternity deaths, which were once the leading drivers of blood transfusion demand.
For example, the maternal mortality ratio gradually fell from 1,130 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1998 to 210 deaths per 100,000 births today, UNICEF says.
Road accidents also declined to 4,661 in 2019, from 5,661 in 2018, an equivalent reduction of 17 per cent.
“Developing health sector, on-time and advanced blood products delivery which uses drones, has made it easier to satisfy hospitals,” Dr. Gatare explains.
Murangwa Anthere, a laboratory manager at Rwanda Military Hospital, has also confirmed hospital satisfaction.
“We have not gone short on blood products for a long time. All patients in need of blood products are catered for,” Murangwa said.
According to Dr. Gatare, Rwanda National Police and Rwanda Defense Force are leading in voluntary blood donation.
However, he said Rwandans, especially Kigali residents, should donate more blood to reach the recommended 1 per cent of the blood donation population.
“Kigali city has a relatively lower number of blood donors and we call upon city dwellers to understand that this concerns them too,” he said.
He also called on people with RH- blood types to or to O-, A-, B-, AB- to donate more blood to meet RH— high demand that is still uncovered.
The issue of the shortage of some blood products has become problematic at the Butare University Teaching Hospital (CHUB) in Huye, where there is a shortage of certain blood products including platelets and RH- blood type
Steven Ndayisaba, a registrar nurse who has been working in the hospital for 20 years , says most blood donors have RH+ type of blood that becomes a problem when patients in need of RH- blood groups appear.
Ndayisaba suggests that to make more people donate blood, sensitizing the public and debunking myths and rumors around blood transfusion should be done.
According to the WHO, every year 118.5 million blood donations are received worldwide and 54 per cent are given to children under 5.
