Youth group hosts blood donors in Kano

Kano hub of the Global Shapers Community, an amalgamation of young people driven by action and dialogue, has hosted volunteer blood donors at its annual blood drive.

The project lead for the blood drive, Dr Shu’aib Sani Shu’aib, said the initiative was aimed at creating real-time blood donation across hospitals in the state.

He said the purpose was to end the challenge of getting blood for those in need across public and private hospitals in Kano.

“The average need of blood has been found to be per two seconds. Every two seconds, a person is in need of blood. This is how serious it is.

“We bring in people, collect their blood and then take it to various hospitals in Kano. We are matching blood donors to potential people that need blood,” he said.

Speaking shortly after his donation, a youth, Ismail Muhammad, said he had been donating blood every six months since an experience he had at a hospital.

“There was a time I took my sibling to the hospital and she was in need of blood. While fortunate for her she got it very easily, I learnt many other people were dying due to the absence or shortage of blood that match theirs.

“Some cannot afford it while for others theirs are hard to get. Since then I tasked myself to be donating one litre after every six months voluntarily. Hence, my involvement in this activity.”

Maryam Tukur is among the few female donors who, despite women’s refusal to donate blood voluntarily, pointed out that her blood group is one of the rare types and she knew how hard it is to get.

“It is part of my family culture to visit hospitals every week just to see patients. I know how people are suffering and my blood group is a rare type. So, I know what it takes to donate,” she said.

This year’s blood drive is targeted at getting donations from 100 people while creating an inventory of people’s information so that they can be contacted anywhere a person is in need of blood so as to have real-time blood donation.