Blood donation is becoming popular in Oman. All related initiatives have become successful in achieving the objective of bringing awareness in this regard in the society.
Now, people realise the importance of donating blood. Due to this effort and initiative, the blood banks get about 60,000 units of blood per year at the rate of 5,000 units per month. The ratio of blood donation in the country has reached about 91 per cent.
But recently it has dipped due to the concerns associated with coronavirus pandemic. This is even though there is no justification for any such concerns and apprehensions as long as the donors adhered to the precautionary measures on the one hand, and the blood banks, on the other, applied all necessary safeguards.
The loyal and sincere people of the society should not hesitate in donating blood. This is also because it is important for their own health. The practice helps in stimulating blood circulation and has other health gains. It saves lives of people who need it.
Sometimes even the need of one drop of blood is also important for the needy.
People should continue the practice of donating blood, keeping all precautionary measures in mind. There is no doubt that achieving self-sufficiency in blood and not importing it from abroad saves individuals and society from blood-transmitted diseases such as HIV.
The trend of blood donation and meeting the requirements locally shows the strength and solidarity in the society leading to the achievement of self-reliance.
Demand for blood increases in certain exceptional circumstances. In such situation it becomes the duty of an individual and the society as a whole to respond to it and come forward donating blood either through blood banks spread all across the Sultanate or during blood donation campaigns organised everywhere.
The organisations, authorities and companies which organise such blood donation camps urge their employees to participate in it. This also shows the level of awareness of the employee and their response to the requirements. The statistics of the blood bank of the recent past shows the level of awareness in this regard in society.
The number of donors in the country has increased to 59,048 in 2019 from 33,209 in 2004. It shows that during this period on an average 75 per cent people have donated blood in the country.
It is gratifying that people respond positively to such efforts and come forward to donate blood to be used in critical situations. It is also required to increase donations for rare blood groups such as B negative and A negative. This is because in certain emergencies, it becomes difficult to mobilise donors for such groups due to their scarcity.
We come across messages going viral, a child was in immediate need of blood from groups such as A positive in a hospital. It is sometimes required for surgery or to meet the blood deficiency. Such appeals on social media get positive responses.
But such rare groups of blood should remain available in hospitals. Donors of such rare blood groups who are willing to donate should also be identified. They can save many lives.
Blood banks should also launch awareness campaigns electronically using their own data bank. They can send text messages to remind people for blood. They can even use WhatsApp to mobilise donors of certain blood groups. They can also coordinate with various organisations and companies for blood donation in some situations when there is more demand in hospitals.
Of course, we realise that the efforts which have been made so far are huge. They have helped in achieving the desired result. But more such initiatives are required to dispel concerns of people willing to donate blood during the pandemic. People in the country are always willing to participate in any such efforts for their own health and as well as to save the lives of others.
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