According to Mrs Oluwadamilola Oyedunle, the Program Director of the Timilehin Leukemia Foundation (TLF), Lagos State needs about 10% of its population to donate blood in order to save lives.
While attending the Valentine's Day Blood Donation Drive at the Textile Labour House on Acme Road in Ogba, she made the decision in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to her, a state with this number of blood donors would always have enough blood in the banks.
For a state with a high population density, she claims Lagos has yet to reach a minimum of 10% of its inhabitants donating blood.
Oyedunle added that “the goal is to have blood banks in each local government where five to 10 people will walk into health facilities and donate blood.
“We are looking forward to a point where patients who need blood can get into any facility around Lagos and get it without stress.”
The programme director also said that the TLF as an organisation had been able to save many lives through its intervention programmes.
She said “one of the things we find joy in is saving lives through encouraging voluntary blood donation; this is more paramount and noble than making money.
“We are trying to get more sponsors for our programmes; we need more corporate sponsors to help the health sector.”
The convener of the Valentine’s Day Blood Donation Drive, Mrs Janet Oyedele, described the exercise as fruitful, saying it would go a long way in saving the lives of patients in need of blood.
She commended the blood donors for their efforts, adding that the act is noble.
NAN reports that the Valentine’s Day Blood Donation Drive was supported by Fidson Pharmaceutical Ltd and the
Lagos State Blood Transfusion Department. (NAN)