The United States embassy in Georgetown on November 3 partnered with the Health Ministry to conduct a blood drive.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas Pierce was one of the donors during the blood drive
In a release, the embassy said that the drive was launched in response to calls from the National Blood Bank for donations to meet a critical shortage of blood.
The National Blood Bank relies on donations of blood from public-spirited persons to assist in situations where blood transfusion may be the only option to save a life. Through the embassy’s initiative, 41 pints of blood were collected.
According to the embassy, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has provided considerable technical support for blood safety activities to help improve blood collection procedures and policies in Guyana. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through CDC, has been involved in the rapid strengthening and improvement of blood transfusion services since 2004.
CDC helps create strategies to recruit and retain low-risk voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors and to facilitate access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care programmes for those who are HIV-positive and seek to donate blood. It also offers support for 100 per cent testing of all donated blood units for HIV and other transfusion-transmissible infections.
Physicians and other clinicians in transfusion practices are provided education and utilisation guidelines to reduce inappropriate use of blood as a clinical therapy, which has been linked to shortages. CDC also trains personnel to build capacity in all aspects of blood collection, storage, testing, and utilisation.
These efforts have contributed to a steady increase in the percentage of voluntary blood donors in Guyana from 18 per cent in 2004, to 70 per cent already in 2011.
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