• Religious leaders to spearhead a campaign to scale up blood transfusion
• After a three-day sensitisation at Garissa Primary School playground three months ago, locals donated only 40 units of blood and 30 was from the department of health staff.
Garissa residents have been urged to start donating blood freely to assist patients.
Addressing Muslim and Christian clerics at a Garissa hotel, Health and Sanitation Chief Officer Isnino Rage said high demand for blood at Garissa Referral Hospital must be addressed through voluntary blood donation from the public.
"Delivering mothers, the renal unit and emergency cases in the hospital need sufficient blood that is screened and readily available in the blood bank,'' she said.
She lamented that the local community only donated blood when a relative or a friend had an emergency need for blood.
She said the meeting was called to use religious leaders to spearhead a campaign to scale up blood transfusion in Garissa county.
Rage noted that Garissa Referral Hospital and sub county hospitals currently rely on blood donation from Jarajara NYS camp, Bura NYS camp and Modikor military Base.
She mentioned a case where after a three-day sensitisation at Garissa Primary playground three months ago, locals donated only 40 units of blood and 30 was from the department of health staff.
“I am appealing to you religious leaders to speak from the pulpits in mosques and churches on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to advocate for a voluntary blood donation. When you speak, people listen a lot,” she said.
Deputy director of preventive and promotive health services Ibrahim Gedi urged the local community to volunteer to donate blood every three months.
"We need 500 pints of blood on monthly basis at the satellite centre to cater for emergency, maternity, renal unit and operations," said Ibrahim.
Hassan Babuur, a medic from the Garissa satellite transfusions centre, said residents only come out in large numbers to donate blood during disasters.
He said during the Westgate attack in Nairobi, the locals donated 480 units of blood.
Other notable cases included Garissa University attack (200 units) and Mogadishu attack where they donated 288 units.
Religious leaders who spoke during the event promised to conduct intensive social mobilisation.