LASG Remains Committed To Providing Clean, Safe Blood For Transfusion

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi has restated the government’s commitment to the provision of clean, safe and steady availability of blood for transfusion in all health facilities.

He stated this as one of the measures against haemorrhage, which is the leading cause of maternal and child mortality.

Abayomi reaffirmed at the 2019 Annual Stakeholders’ Summit of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service that the resolve of the present administration to ensure this commitment, whenever required remains unshaken.

Speaking on the theme: “Strategy for Reducing Maternal Mortality: Increasing the Blood Supply”, Abayomi declared that preventable deaths in women and children, resulting from procreation caused by haemorrhage, are unacceptable.

While noting that the war being waged on HIV through the Lagos State AIDS control agency is yielding the desired results, Abayomi stated that the Lagos State government will be declaring war on hepatitis in 2020.

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He stressed the need for quality assurance in the donation and transfusion of blood, reiterating that a situation where people are infected with blood-related diseases as result transfusion is unacceptable.

Abayomi noted that voluntary blood donors who go out of their way despite busy schedules in a bustling city like Lagos to donate blood in order to save precious lives need to be honoured.

He revealed that State government is devising modern technology to address blood shortages in health facilities across the State, calling for private sector participation and partnership.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye said the State Government, through LSBTS, has been working assiduously to ensure that only safe voluntarily donated blood is available and transfused.

He stated that the overarching goal of the LSBTS is to recruit and maintain voluntary blood donors and ensure an adequate supply of safe blood for transfusion.