26 Jun 2014

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu says the rate at which lives are lost due to insufficient blood is alarming and is a cause for concern.

Mr Batshu was speaking during the Body Bar Gym and Tutume District Health Management Team (HMT) blood donation day in Tutume recently.

He said the Ministry of Health recently reported disturbing trends of maternal deaths, which is mainly due to loss of blood by mothers during the time of giving birth, as there would be no blood in the health facilities to save lives.

“We can no longer afford to lose lives in cases where we could come to the rescue. As a country we have made a commitment through the Millennium Development Goals, which are a collective with other countries, that we will reduce maternal mortality rate ratio by three quarters by 2015. Your commitment to donate blood will help our country to achieve this goal,” he said.

He explained that it was not only mothers who desperately needed blood, but also victims of road accidents among others. He said the cooperation between Tutume DHMT and the Body Bar Gym came at the right time when blood was needed most in the country.

Furthermore, he stated that it was through continued collaboration between government and the private sector that they will realise the long term national vision 2016 pillar of being a safe and secure nation.

He said government had made a legacy in keeping the country safe and they would continue to develop more and more strategies in an attempt to keep on top of the challenges.

“As government, we are committed to promote healthy lifestyles through multiple approaches such as public education. People may not donate because they are not aware of the implications of the shortage of blood, hence public education will change few minds,” he stated. 


Mr Batshu thank those who donated blood, in particular schools that were said constitute the higher numbers of blood donation, noting that the students should keep up the spirit because by so doing they are playing their part in saving this nation from high mortality rates.

Ms Christa Lebane from National Blood Transfusion Service  said their aim is to save people’s lives by ensuring that there is blood in health facilities at all times. She said for one to be a donor, they should not have high or low blood pressure, adding that they go through screening first, where they check weight, blood pressure and sugar level then one goes for counseling before they donate.

Ms Lebane said only 450 ml is needed from a person and this can save three people, noting that it is very painful for someone to die due to shortage of blood. 

 She said after donation, the blood is screened to ensure that it is clean, adding that donating helps the individual to protect themselves as one take precautions at all times to live a healthy life to keep the blood clean and also save blood for themselves for future use. Ends