Kennedy Sanya is Kenya’s champion blood donor.
Sanya is one of the volunteers who keep the hearts of many Kenyans beating. If all of his blood is measured, there is 10 times more flowing outside his body than inside.
An adult body contains about 10 units of blood, about 10 per cent of an adult’s weight.
Sanya, a court prosecutor in Nakuru city, donated his first pint in 1983 as a hungry Form 3 student. He was motivated by the free soda and half a loaf of bread that donors got to help them regain energy.
He later understood that each person carries an invaluable resource: blood. It can’t be manufactured as a commodity, although adult stem cells from a donor are used to create lab-grown blood.
So what is available needs to be shared.
Kenya used to rely on mass blood donations by secondary and tertiary students, but now all donations are voluntary.
Sanya, who is in his early 50s, knows just one boda boda accident victim can deplete an entire hospital of its blood supply. As a prosecutor, Sanya sees victims of such accidents nearly every day.
This leaves hospitals completely reliant on the generosity of donors like him.
“I began donating 1983 in Form 3 at Pumwani High School in Nairobi. I have so far donated 103 pints (48.7 litres). I donate three times a year, one pint each time,” he says.
A pint is equal to about half a litre (0.47litres).
He is one of the four blood donation ambassadors of the Kenya Tissue and Transplant Authority.
The other three are Kenya's top female blood donor Aisha Daffalla, Kenyan by Blood Foundation patron Charlene Ruto and Coalition of Blood for Africa Team lead Caroline Wangamati.
Sanya is heavily built, exuberant and says he takes no alcohol.
“I don’t take any special diet, just the normal meals. But I am married to a Nandi so there’s a lot of mursik. I don’t take beer but I take coffee once in a while,” he says.
“I have three kids. Two of them donate regularly, except one who is seven years old. My wife also donates.”
The Ministry of Health says potential donors must weigh at least 50 kilogrammes to ensure the donation does not lead to a significant blood volume loss, as it would if someone weighed less than 50kg. It also restricts blood donations to Kenyans aged 16 and 65.
That means, Aisha Dafalla, who still holds the title of the top female donor, retired a little earlier.
The now-60 year old announced her retirement from regular blood donations last year in Murang’a, after donating 37.5 litres since 1981 as a Form 3 student.
The World Health Organization named her the top donor in Kenya in 2016. Then Health CS Mutahi Kagwe appointed her Kenya blood ambassador in 2021.
She kept away from blood donations after her first experience in 1981. But in 1986 her friend requested her to donate blood for the friend’s brother after an accident.
This experience opened her eyes on the importance of donation. “I have been donating blood regularly since then, starting with once a year, twice and then at three times a year. I took regular breaks when I was expectant and during breastfeeding periods,” Dafalla said.
Her husband, who accompanied her for the blood donations, has since become a regular donor, she said.
Charlene Ruto, who was made a blood ambassador last December, said she will be rallying youths to adopt the culture of donating blood to replenish the country’s stocks.
This, she said, will be done through visiting universities, high schools and other institutions across the country.
“All the blood ambassadors have different strengths; the strength I bring to the table is my resonance with the young people of Kenya and not just of Kenya but of Africa,” she said.
“We are 70 per cent of our population and our mean age is about 19.5 so these are the same people I am going to be calling out. We are going to go to the universities, high schools and different institutions because as young people if we don’t lead this course, then it is going to fail."
Caroline Wangamati, former Bungoma governor's wife, expressed concern that too many lives are lost in the country due to loss of blood.
"Too many women are dying because of post-partum haemorrhage, we are losing a lot of our children from anaemia, we have a lot of oncology patients who need to get their blood to the right levels so that they can receive their treatment," she said.
According to Medical Services PS Harry Kimtai, Kenya aims to collect at least 500,000 pints of blood this year.
Blood transfusions are essential for various medical procedures such as surgeries, trauma care, cancer treatment, maternal care and managing other blood-related disorders.
“Increased funding for Kenya Tissue and Transplant Authority (KTTA) has enhanced blood collection efforts from 384,000 pints in 2021-22 to 412,868 units in 2022-23. We are on course to ensure that we collect at least 500,000 units of blood annually,” Kimtai said.
WHO says if one per cent to three per cent of a country's population donate blood, it would be sufficient for the country's needs.
Sanya says he uses his ambassadorial position to recruit new donors. He makes sure they clearly understand the importance of blood donation in saving lives.
“Soda and bread,” he says, “is no longer part of the motivation.”