A group of people in Busia has taken the initiative to mobilise residents to donate blood.
Members of Matayos Reality WhatsApp group say the acute shortage of blood at the Busia County Referral Hospital has to be fixed swiftly to save lives. They also target seven subcounty hospitals.
On Monday, they gathered at Busia’s Green Gardens to donate blood and appealed to residents to follow suit. Coordinator Duncan Kubasu said they made the decision after Health chief officer Isaac Omeri called on residents to volunteer following a shortage at county health institutions.
The group is out to ensure sufficient blood in the blood bank at the county referral hospital, which also supplies blood to subcounty facilities. They seek to complement the county government initiatives.
On Saturday, they raised more than Sh10,000 to support the initiative. The cash will be spent on educating residents on the need to donate blood.
On January 15, Dr Omeri attributed high demand for blood to anaemia cases due to malaria outbreak and accidents.
"When schools close, we are disadvantaged. With the schools now open, we hope to get more blood,” he said.
Three years ago, health officials in Busia were forced to transfer seven patients who needed blood to health facilities outside the county following a shortage of blood at the county referral hospital.
