Introduction

The Blood Donor Day, 2009 in Tanzania was commemorated at national level in Mbeya City, southern Tanzania. The occasion was officiated by the Hon. Minister of Health and Social Welfare and attended by the Regional Commissioner and other regional officials, Ministry of Health Officials, WHO, CDC and other partners, Voluntary Blood Donors, the Media and the Mbeya community.

Major events on WBDD, 2009

The media was fully involved right from the preparatory phase of the event, by conducting a seminar on 4th June, which resulted on special programs on TV, radio and articles on the print media in English and Kiswahili. The articles and radio programs reiterated on the importance of donating blood and to motivate people, especially the youth, towards donating blood to save lives.

A week prior to the event, all zonal Blood Banks were challenged to collect specific amounts of blood. Mbeya zone was able to surpass the target of 1,000 liters and collected 1,102. Many more people were seen donating blood up to the day of the occasion itself. All eight zones in the country organized some activities to mark the occasion. Production and dissemination of IEC materials for the occasion was facilitated by WHO. On the climax day, the major activities implemented at national level included: a public address, procession, blood donation, speeches by delegates, songs, poetry, theatrical presentations from school groups, traditional dances and performances by different artistic groups.

Welcome messages

The welcome address was delivered by the Lordship Mayor of Mbeya City, who thanked the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for giving his City the honour to host this important event. This was followed by an introduction of the delegates by the Hon. District Commissioner for Mbeya.

Speech by the Guest of Honour

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, who was the Guest of Honour for the occasion started by thanking the Mbeya community for the exemplary turn up. He echoed on the theme for the WBDD 2009 and explained why WHO decided that countries should be commemorating the WBDD occasion. The Minister stated that the establishment of the National Blood Transfusion Services in the country, in 2004 has made it possible to have adequate equipment, and expertise in the area of collection, screening and distribution of safe blood. He also said that the increase of voluntary blood donors is attributed to the establishment of the programme. He thanked CDC for supporting the construction of the eight Zonal Blood Centers in the country. The Minister thanked those who have been voluntarily donating blood and pleaded to those healthy people who have not started to join in because this is the only way to save the lives of many, especially mother and child, or accident casualties, cancer patients and others who may die due to lack of blood.

WHO Remarks

WHO Regional Director’s Remarks on the occasion were delivered by Dr. Jean Baptiste Tapko, WR a.i. Tanzania. Dr. Tapko started by thanking the Hon. Minister and his Ministry for inviting WHO to the commemoration. He congratulated the National Blood Transfusion Service and Mbeya Regional Authorities for good preparations, and then went on to deliver message from WHO Regional Director for WBDD, 2009. Dr. Tapko read his entire speech in Kiswahili, for which he was cheered and congratulated for having mastered the national language well within the short period of stay in the country. He concluded his remarks by announcing the offer by WHO of ten refrigerators to support the National Blood Transfusion Services in the country. Prior to the occasion, the WR a.i had visited both the Central Blood Bank in Dar Es Salaam and the Zonal Blood Bank in Mbeya to familiarize with the programme.

Remarks by CDC

CDC delivered a massage to represent the people of the United States of America who have been sponsoring the establishment of the eight zonal Blood Banks in the country through PEPFAR. CDC pledged to continue supporting the programme.

Report of the Programme Manager

The Programme Manager thanked WHO and CDC for their support. He gave a brief narration of the programme since its inception. He stated that the National Blood Safety Programme was established in 2004 with the objective of ensuring availability of safe blood for needy patients. The work of the programme has been to sensitize people to voluntarily donate blood to save lives and encourage them to become permanent voluntary blood donors. Among the major programme milestones were the following:

Between 2006 – 2008, eight Zonal Blood Banks were constructed and furnished with all equipment. One Regional Blood Bank built in Kigoma Region.
National policy guidelines have been developed.
A National Blood Transfusion Strategy 2007 – 2010 developed and being implemented.
All programme staff trained at different levels.
An increase of voluntary donors from 20% in 2006 to 80% in 2009.
An increase in the blood collection from 52,000 units in 2006 to 114,000 units in 2008.
An increase in the Government budget allocations for the programme up to 80% of the requirements.
Concluding Remarks by the Ag. Permanent Secretary MOHSW.

The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Dr. Joseph Mbatia concluded the function by thanking all who made the occasion possible. He expressed hope that WHO and other partners will continue to support the programme to be able to achieve it’s nobel obligation.

Dr. Mbatia emphasized on the Ministry’s expectations to reach 100% of all blood from voluntary donors in the near future. He encouraged all those who donated blood during the occasion to opt to become permanent voluntary blood donors.

Awards

After his fascinating speech, the Minister awarded certificates to institutions and individuals who have been permanently and voluntarily contributing blood, in recognition of their valuable contribution to the community. The institutions that were awarded certificates included the Army, High and Secondary Schools both boys and girls, Universities and other higher lerning institutions.

Some of the leading individual voluntary donors awarded certificates have a record of having donated more than forty units each.