“There is no adequate blood in the blood bank,” he said. “Patients are dying, especially children under 5, due to lack of blood. This should be a concern for everyone.”
Mr Jobe made this disclosure recently at a blood donation campaign event organised in collaboration with Golden Hands Foundation, a skills training centre in Kololi.
He added: “In The Gambia, we have only 10 percent voluntary blood donation. This doesn’t tell well. The World Health Organization is calling for 100 per cent blood donation. This is why we came up with such an initiative to promote more voluntary blood donors in order to scale from 10 per cent to 100 per cent.”
According to him, family replacement has dominated voluntary blood donation as many people depend on relatives to rescue them. “We are targeting young people because if they adopt the system of donating blood at an early age then they will help the health system because without blood, there will be no health system in any country. It is key when we talk about maternal health. The journey has started and it will continue in order to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate in The Gambia.”
He stressed that blood is not for sale, urging people to come out to donate blood to save lives.
Meanwhile, the event coincided with the graduation of 10 diploma students of Golden Hands in such areas as therapeutic massage, cosmetology, health education, hairdressing, English language as well as food and nutrition.
Maurice M Yajoh, director general of Golden Hands, said: “If we are talking of a healthy nation, then we have to consider skills as a bedrock for every developed nation.”
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