The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MEDICAL student is urging residents to support a blood drive scheduled to be held next month.

Tai Dorsett, of the University of West Indies St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, told The Tribune Friday that her recently founded Bloodline organisation held its first blood drive on April 1 at the JEMS Plaza on Pitt Road.

A second blood drive is being scheduled for July 15.

“There was an awesome turn out for such a small scale event and we’re hoping for larger numbers this time around,” Ms Dorsett said.

“The Bloodline organisation is newly formed just this year of 2017 and having been encouraged by a lecturer, Dr Kenneth Charles at the University of the West Indies St Augustine’s Campus, I wanted to change the social views by encouraging and educating Bahamians on the dire need to donate blood.

“I recently completed my pre-clinical part of medical school and I’m not home for the clinical part, so it was prime time to start making a difference.”

Last week during his contribution to the budget debate, Health Minister Dr Duane Sands stressed that The Bahamas was recently ranked 11th in the world for its homicide rate, triple the rate considered by the World Health Organisation as an epidemic.

Addressing parliamentarians, Dr Sands said the number one cause of death of the Bahamian male is a bullet and a recent crime study shows that between 2012 and 2015, 78 per cent of murder victims in the country died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Dr Sands said between 2012 and 2016, the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) managed 8,000 assault cases, 1,229 stabbing cases, and 1,078 gunshot wounds.

Just last year, the health minister said the Emergency Room saw 1,272 assaults, 246 stabbings and 216 gunshot wounds.

“We are in the world leaders in ways that are destructive to our social and economic well-being. We are one of the leaders in trauma due to gunshots and stabbing. The probability of dying from these types of injuries far exceeds the risk of death from cancer of HIV/Aids in The Bahamas,” Dr Sands said.

Ms Dorsett, on Friday, noted that the WHO recommends that every country have 100 per cent non-remunerated blood donations, “meaning citizens should voluntarily donate blood without expecting anything in return, or without the urgency of having to donate blood to save a family member”.

“Annually, the blood banks are required to provide an average of 10,000 pints of blood a year to support the country’s needs however they are only receiving an average of 4,000 pints of voluntarily donated blood. This is a 40 per cent donation which is grossly inadequate to support the needs of the country, therefore the blood banks are always in short supply.

“Caribbean countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have already reached the 100 per cent volunteer donation mark (while) The Bahamas is lagging behind,” Ms Dorsett said.

The medical student noted that a wide variety of conditions including cancer, blood disorders, emergency and routine surgeries as well as renal disease “require blood transfusions and as of right now the blood banks cannot efficiently supply the demand.”

“Healthy persons can donate blood once every eight weeks or six times per annum. The process is relatively painless and can take as little at ten minutes,” she added.

The criteria for donating blood, according to the Red Cross include: the donor must be over 18; have no new piercing or tattoos within 12 months; be in good health and over 110lbs; have no chronic diseases/infections such as HIV, hepatitis, influenza and must not be taking antibiotics. Diabetic and hypertensive individuals interested in donating blood must have their conditions under constant control and an individual must wait four weeks after immunisation to donate blood.

“Although we are a new organisation we intend to hit the ground running and we wish to say a special thanks to JEMS Real Estate, Poinciana Medical Centre, Candace Lockhart and Ariel Weech,” Ms Dorsett said.