Labasa Hospital Receives $200,000 Blood Bank Bus
Labasa Hospital’s Blood Bank received an injection of relief following a donation from the Japanese Government yesterday. Through the Embassy of Japan the hospital received a $200,000 fully equipped blood bank bus. Ministry of Health and Medical Services assistant minister Alexander O’Conor during the handing over ceremony said the fully equipped bus will enable medical staff to go to communities and rural areas for blood donations. “Dogoru Village in Macuata will be the first to be visited by the mobile unit,” Mr O’Conor said.
“Our hospital uses about 25 litres of donated blood every day,” he said. “Blood is used by a wide variety of patients such as pregnant mothers with anaemia or excessive bleeding, accident victims, people undergoing treatment for cancer and some complications of diabetes. “There are currently more than 15,000 regular blood donors in Fiji but we are always looking for more donors.”
“I am confident that this new blood donation bus will not only make it easier for existing regular donors to continue giving blood but will also enable many more people to start donating.
“The Japanese Government has been a consistent supporter of our efforts to deliver better, more accessible and more effective health services to all Fijians.
“We are very thankful to the Government for their continuous support.” Meanwhile, Embassy of Japan counsellor and deputy chief of mission Tsuguyoshi Hada said the Japanese Government has provided a total of three buses to the ministry. “The first two buses donated in 2012 and 2015 to the Fiji National Blood Services (FNBS) have contributed to Fiji’s current achievement of 86 percent voluntary blood donation,” Mr Hada said.
“I hope this project will further strengthen the progress of the FNBS in achieving its 90 per cent target by 2018 as a practical pathway towards attaining the World Health Organisation’s target of 100 percent voluntary donation by the year 2020.”
“The donation of buses project is implemented under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects Programme. “This new specialised blood donor bus will strengthen blood collection capacity of the Ministry of Health and ease the strain on medical professionals. “Most importantly it will contribute towards maintaining a steady supply of blood, for the benefit of the people in the Northern Division.”