Blood Service honours people giving life to others

The aim of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) is to provide enough blood at the right time wherever it is required and with its target to collect 850 000 units of blood annually, regular donors are the backbone of the organisation.
This was the message of Willem van der Merwe, SANBS Zone Donor Manager at the annual Donor for Life Awards function that was hosted in the city on Friday evening.
A total of 77 donors qualified for reaching the 20 (11 donors), 50 (25 donors), 75 (20 donors), 100 (9 donors), 125 (5 donors) and 150 (4 donors) units milestones. Only two donors reached the 175 units milestone, while in the 200 and 275 units category, the top donors were Abraham Swanepoel and Willie Willemse, respectively.
Van der Merwe said that in Limpopo, the SANBS has donor centres in Polokwane, Mokopane and Louis Trichardt as well as three mobile teams. “The Limpopo branch harvested 30 076 units of blood during 2016, increasing to 30 461 units in 2017, being the highest number of donations in the history of the province,” Van der Merwe announced. Van der Merwe said that, in order to meet with the demand, the SANBS has to increase its donations by at least 66 000 per year nationally.
“This means that Limpopo has to contribute an additional 4 000 units per year and to achieve that target, we will rely on regular donations from our established donors as well as new donors joining,” Van der Merwe said. He mentioned that blood donations are needed throughout the year and not just during the holiday seasons because only 1% of the blood provided are for vehicle accident victims. “The balance of the blood that we collect, goes to other patients like mothers giving birth and those treated for cancer,” Van der Merwe added.
Donor Committee Chairperson, Tseliso Motsoeneng, who has received his medal for donating 75 units, said that the event should more aptly be called ‘Honouring people that are giving life’, referring to the fact that one unit of blood can save the lives of three people. “The Donor Committee members are our ambassadors and work tirelessly to recruit new donors and arrange blood drives all over the province and I am really proud of them,” Motsoeneng said.

Story and photos: BARRY VILJOEN
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