Lack of financial resources to support a voluntary non-remuneration donor transfusion services were due to insufficient blood in the country.
An official at the Nakuru Blood Bank Nicholas Kiptanui said due to the rise of surgeries in the country there was a need to increase the number of donors since the country requires more than 420, 000 units annually.
He was speaking to KNA Thursday at his office.
He said minimal investment in the blood sector and capacity gaps was a hindrance in the achievement of the Universal Health Care (UHC), which was one of the Big 4 agenda.
He said the people most affected by insufficient supply from the blood banks were accident victims, the elderly who tend to be anaemic along with women of childbearing age who have a higher capacity of losing a lot of blood during childbirth.
He appealed to wananchi to make blood donation an annual gift to their fellow citizens since nobody knows when they might require the all saving liquid.
He said access to safe, sustainable and quality blood was not only important for the attainment of UHC but was the key to the management of the rising numbers of non-communicable diseases and dreaded cancer.
He said currently the county depends on secondary school students who donate almost all the blood required in the region.
He however, said there was a need for wananchi to realise the importance of volunteer donation so as to increase the blood in reserves.
He assured patients that the blood was properly screened and even the storage was of high standards, and nobody should fear donations whenever there was a need.
He added that life was fragile and blood was invariable in holding it together, and due to population increase the demand keeps on escalating.
By Veronica Bosibori
