Mon, Phek remember the gift of life called ‘Blood Donor’

EMN
Dimapur, June 15

When things go bleak for the patient and sometimes, when medicine and doctors are only complimentary support, the only thing keeping a patient holding on to his last hopes is the voluntary, unpaid blood donor. World Blood Donors’ Day is a day that remembers the role and contribution of the unpaid charity worker called the blood donor.
The District AIDS Prevention & Control Unit (DAPCU) collaborated with the blood bank of the Mon District Hospital and Voluntary Blood Donors to mark World Blood Donor Day with a program on Monday, June 14. The program was conducted with the theme “Thank you for saving my life”, in the district hospital.
The District Program Officer of the DAPCU, Longyim Tzudir, delivered the keynote address. He said that every year on June 14 countries around the world observe World Blood Donor Day. The event serves to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for patients in need. He also mentioned that the theme of this year’s campaign is “Thank you for saving my life”. It focuses on thanking blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters”.
Tzudir concluded his speech by saying that by giving a blood, we are not only helping the patient, but the family and the society as a whole and therefore called upon the participants to spread awareness on blood donation and motivate others to be life saver.
Dr. Ngampa opf the district hospital spoke about the basics of blood donation. He explained the blood types, eligibility to donate blood and the need of safe blood and blood products. He also mentioned that there is lot of misconception on voluntary blood donation due to which many people still reluctant to donate blood. He therefore encouraged everyone to know the facts about blood donation and said that even if he/she is not eligible for blood donation, one can be a messenger of Voluntary Blood Donation.
Tongmeth K, a member of Voluntary Blood Donors, said in his motivational speech that blood cannot be replaced by any other element except blood. Sharing from his experience, the donor said that there was no harm in donating blood, rather a unit of blood can save someone’s life. He concluded his speech by saying “Share a little, care a little, donate blood and be a hero”.
Chingong K, a blood recipient, briefly shared about his experiences. He said his life was saved through blood donation by voluntary unpaid blood donors. The event is a great opportunity for him to show gratitude and to honor those voluntary unpaid blood donors, he said. He has also become a member of Voluntary Unpaid Blood Donor. He hoped to donate blood and further motivated others to continue the work of charity in saving lives.
Later, blood typing (voluntary) was carried out by laboratory technicians from the district hospital.

Phek
World Blood Donors Day was observed on June 14 in Phek too. The event was conducted in Baptist Theological College of Pfutsero, and organized by the DAPCU and Blood Bank of Phek district hospital. The event supported by the Nagaland State Blood Transfusion Council.
Speaking on the theme ‘thank you for saving my life’ the guest speaker, Senior Medical Officer of District Hospital Dr Rongsen said the event served to thank voluntary unpaid donors for their life-saving gift of blood. He encouraged the gathering to spread information and awareness to the public about the need for regular blood donations to ensure quality, safety, and ‘availability of blood’ for patients in need. He also explained the key fact of blood donation, myths and misconception. He encouraged the students to donate blood to save life.
Program officer of the DAPCU Kuduvo Kezo also spoke during the program. He spoke on role and objectives of the Red Ribbon Club and encouraged students to promote information about safe sexual behavior and creating awareness on voluntary blood donation. They can become agents of change even in the engagement of fighting issues such as HIV/AIDS and drug abuse.