Locals rallied in support of a desperate plea for blood donations in Rukungiri, as the District blood bank manager, Emmanuel Mugarura, disclosed a critical shortage in the area despite escalating demand within health facilities.
Mugarura highlighted the repercussions of this scarcity, emphasizing the daunting challenges faced by hospitals, especially in dealing with expectant mothers and malaria patients requiring urgent blood transfusions. Consequently, authorities were compelled to organize impromptu roadside blood donation and collection campaigns.
The severity of the situation was underscored by Mugarura’s statement, “We need about 1,000 units of blood to support our health facilities for at least two weeks as we wait for the re-opening of learning institutions since learners are our main source of blood.”
The Administrator of Kisiizi Hospital, Moses Mugume, expressed the facility’s predicament, revealing their dependence on expensive blood supplies from Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital due to local shortages. Urging public support for blood donation, he stressed, “I only appeal to the general public to support the blood donation campaign so that they are able to save lives because the situation is not good here.”
Similarly, Nyakibale Hospital faced operational disruptions, with Administrator Andrew Okoch sharing the dire circumstances, “The district’s blood bank is within our facility but surprisingly, we also do not have blood, and at times we are forced to postpone some operations because of blood.”
Okoch shed light on the challenge of the Uganda blood transfusion services being inactive, collecting blood from schools, which are presently closed. The resultant struggle is expected to persist until the reopening of schools in two weeks for the first term.
In a collective effort to alleviate the blood shortage crisis, the Lions Club of Rukungiri collaborated with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services for a two-day roadside blood collection campaign. Cornelious Byarugaba, the president of Lions Club of Rukungiri, explained, “We decided to do this kind of activity basically to help our population who are in need of blood. There is too much shortage of blood in our health facilities, and that’s why we came up with such an initiative.”
A commendable 150 units of blood were successfully collected during the two-day campaign, providing a lifeline for both Kisiizi Hospital and Nyakibale Hospital, along with Five Health Center IVs and 12 Health Center IIIs in the district.
