Blood shortage: A major crisis brought by the Corona Pandemic.

Facing the challenges brought by the Corona pandemic.

There are many challenges that have been brought to light by the corona pandemic.
Today I would like to address one of them, blood shortage in hospitals.

This crisis was in place even before the pandemic hit Uganda. As shown below

This was in January before the country was put under lockdown.

With the lock down and closing of schools and other measures, it became hard for facilities to collect blood as they usually did this in gatherings, schools, which where all banned for reasons best explained during the president's speeches.


This is after the country was hit by the pandemic

This is what hospitals are facing due to the Corona pandemic situation.

As an active citizen, I took the initiative to go to Nakasero blood bank to donate blood and be part of the struggle to curb this crisis.

While there I got into a discussion with the health worker attending to me and he told me some good things that come with blood donation.
I shared them below

Advantageous for the Body

Blood donation is not at all harmful for the body; rather the four or five liters of blood that can be donated every three or four months by both men and women ensures that you remain fit and fine. Firstly, the cell depletion that occurs due to blood donation, forces the body to produce new cells within 48 hours, thereby freshening up the entire body system.
Secondly, the body is armed against a host of diseases ranging from liver and heart problems to even cancer.
Thirdly, within just one or two months, a donor regains his lost blood. Thus, donating blood is in another way, a step towards revitalizing your body.

Blood Donation is the Sole Way of Obtaining Blood

Blood can neither be artificially produced nor can it be stored beyond a definite time. Amidst the three components of blood, plasma can be preserved for years, red blood cells can be stored for 42 days and platelets can be kept only for 5 days. Consequently, the rush for blood is always on the high in hospitals and the only way to meet this requirement is through donation.

One Donation Fulfils Three Different Requisites

Since three different components are provided by a single donation, three different people may be helped by it. Considering the millions of people needing blood every year, imagine how each donation is, therefore, precious.

Who Can Donate Blood

You can give blood if you are between 17‑66 years of age, if your weight is over 50 kg and you are in sound health. Similarly, you cannot donate blood if you suffer from diseases such as cardiac arrest, hypertension, epilepsy or diabetes or if you have undergone treatment for malaria within the last three months.

Human life is priceless and thus to make sure that not a single life is lost due to blood shortage, take a positive initiative towards donating blood and give someone the blessing of life.

I hope this information impacts you the reader.
Stay safe.

Blog by Nicholas Omoko.