(ERGO) – With no established blood banks in Somalia especially in the regions, patients in need of urgent blood transfusion risk death as medical facilities are forced to scout for donors.
In Galkayo town in the central region of Mudug , a local hospital is now mobilizing donors and putting them on standby to give blood as the need arises.
“We have so far signed up 115 donors, the majority of them youth,” Dr. Mohamed Hussein Adan, director of Galkayo General Hospital, told Radio Ergo.
The scheme launched last month is already saving lives.
The hospital is developing a database of potential donors, who can be contacted to come and give blood when it is needed. The hospital lacks a blood bank with sufficient capacity.
“We note the details of the donor including blood group, health status, and telephone numbers,” said Dr Adan. “They are prepared to help at very short notice if the need arises.”
The scheme was first proposed by a group of youth conducting blood donation sensitization in schools and universities in Galkayo town.
The partnership is now attracting many volunteers and so far 24 patients have benefitted.
Bisharo Abdullahi Bulhan, 25, who lives in Galkayo town, has registered herself at the hospital as a blood donor.
Mid-last month, for the first time since she was registered, Bisharo donated blood to save the life of a four-year-old IDP boy.
“I received a call from the hospital on 13 of last month to donate for a young boy. I donated 500ml of blood. My blood group is O+ and I am very proud to donate blood,” she said.
According to Dr Adan, pregnant mothers who lose a lot of blood during delivery are the majority of the scheme’s beneficiaries.
Khadra Mohamed Abdi, 24, had to deliver by Caesarian section late last month after a prolonged three-day labour.
MurayadAlinDiblawe, a relative, said: “She lost too much blood during the operation and so she needed a transfusion. She received 500ml of blood donated by a volunteer. Now she is recovering.”
Last month, 11 pregnant women died in Guri’el in Galgadud region following birth complications and loss of blood. Some of the women arrived at a local hospital, where a local nurse told the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) that the hospital did not have blood bags despite getting a willing blood donor to try to save one of the women.
