46 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2013
Ignorance, negative attitude, bane of voluntary blood donation BY CHIOMA OBINNA
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DNA Ogba has just put to bed, but lost a lot of blood in the process. She requires urgent blood transfusion. There is no blood available at the blood bank, so Peter, her husband is asked to donate blood. But Peter’s reaction took health workers by surprise, “I don’t think I am fit to donate blood. I think I should be given some drugs to boost my own blood supply,” he argued. Efforts to make him cooperate were futile. As the drama was unfolding, Edna passed away. In another incident, Gabriel Adoh, victim of a road traffic
accident requires urgent blood transfusion. His younger sister who was around at the time of accident has objected `to donating for him on the basis that her faith forbids blood donation or transfusion. Before long, Gabriel has given up the ghost for lack of the lifesaving blood. These are just some of the challenges facing blood transfusion in Nigeria. Most affected are the patients who lose their lives in the process. Medical personnel are so frustrated when blood needed to save lives is not readily available. In the country today, the demand for blood and blood products far outweighs
supply. The current practice is a dependence on relatives, friends or paid donors. Usually, when blood is required in emergencies., it is not available. Findings show the situation is worrisome. Although, blood and blood products are not to be sold, many hospitals in Lagos largely depend on commercial donors since only 10 percent of blood needs in the State are being met, according to the Commissioner for Health. The reluctance to donate blood has led to severe shortage of blood and blood products. A surgeon at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,
• A voluntary donor donating blood during a donation exercise organised by Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, LSBTC, and New Insight Baptist Church weekend in Lagos.
LASUTH, Dr. Saeid Ahmad states that challenges of blood and blood products are linked to the challenges of economy, knowledge and enlightenment about the role of blood and blood products as well as challenges of religion. “Somebody is in dire need of blood but the person professes a particular faith that says; according to my religion I don’t accept blood transfusion. It puts pressure on the doctor to start thinking of what alternative ways he can save this patient’s life. The challenge of cultural perception is also there. A person that brings a relative and is yelling at the doctor to attend to them, the moment the doctor comes out and announced that the patient needs blood, the response you will get is where will we buy it and how much is it?. “Human blood must come from another human being. Blood in our local culture is serious business, in religion is very serious.” He said from empirical observation, only two out of every 10 people will readily donate blood. Ahmad who narrated personal experiences as a surgeon said: “It has a serious negative impact because it puts additional stress on the surgeon who wants to save the life of that patient that just had an accident and lost plenty of blood. You need to get the person back to an acceptable blood level even because you carry out a life saving surgery, so not only that the person needs blood for what he or she has lost but needs blood for the
Schizophrenia: On the human side of mental illness BY SOLA OGUNDIPE
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HE first time I watched "People Say I'm Crazy", a film by John Cadigan who documented his life for 10 years following diagnosis with schizophrenia, I fully understood the human side of mental illness. The unfiltered realism, honesty and optimism portrayed by the film, essentially highlighted what it is like to have a mental illness and also to appreciate that people with mental illness can not just survive, but also thrive. No doubt a serious and often debilitating illness, schizophrenia is quite more common than envisaged, and this film is proof more than anything else that mental illness can be properly managed if only people are enabled to cope, understand and relate to its effects. On this year's World Schizophrenia Day, May 24, the need for critical examination of the nation's general wellbeing, physically and mentally, was
paramount, as Cutler Ogilvy PR took up its wellness campaign tagged "Promoting the General Wellbeing of Nigerians" in managing physical and mental health with focus on schizophrenia. An estimated 1 in 100 persons are affected in Nigeria. "Schizophrenia is part of our reality and Nigerians should neither stigmatise nor discriminate against people with this mental illness," noted Laura Oloyede, Chief Operating Officer, Cutler Ogilvy PR. "Rather they should join in proffering a solution by pointing such people to the direction of where they can get professional help. We must realize that our health status is important and we should seek professional help when the need arises." Dr. Deji Morenikeji, Medical Director, Triumph Medical Centre, Lagos, says, basically, schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects personal health, action, thought and view of the world. "Early signs include social withdrawal, hostility or suspiciousness, deteriora-
tion of personal hygiene, expressionless gaze and inability to cry or express joy. "It can be characterized by breakdown of thought, with punctuations of hallucinations, causing the sufferer to be frightened and paranoid. Other signs of schizophrenia include inappropriate laughter or crying, depression, irrational statements, loss of memory, excessive sleep or insomnia among others. Morenikeji notes that common causes are genetic or environmental in nature and could be linked to abnormal brain structure. " Schizophrenia can be diagnosed through psychiatric evaluation, medical history and laboratory tests. It has no cure but is a treatable mental disorder. The key is to have a strong support system to provide the right treatment." On treatment, he noted: "If you are getting the right treatment and stick to it, you are much less likely to experience a crisis situation that requires hospitalization to keep you safe."
procedure you want to carry out and this can range from low to medium to high risk procedures. “Nobody is going to carry a cardiac patient into a theatre without blood or blood product because you may end up being the first to kill that patient even before his disease will kill him. “The only acceptable replacement for blood is blood. Blood transfusion saves human life in danger after a significant blood loss. There are conditions that the person may come up with like inherent blood disease like a child with sickle cell who carries haemoglobin SS. The component of their blood easily gets destroyed. People like that benefit significantly from transfusion of fresh blood or healthy blood that will help to dilute the sick blood and improve quality of life of that patient. “Significantly, it adds to the safety of surgical operations. Most surgeries involve cutting and to a little or more of degree letting of blood. Although in modern practice, the surgeon tries as much as possible to minimise how much blood is lost even in surgery. But wherever you cut the blood will flow. When you have a backup it increases chances in the case the patients loses some quantity of blood more than envisaged.
Excessive blood cells For donors, he noted that certain individuals will actually benefit from giving blood particularly, people that have excessive blood cells in the body. Some people with blood diseases also benefit because donating blood helps to reduce the thickness of the blood and brings it to a normal level. Ahmad noted that voluntary blood donation helps when acute need arises to save more lives. He said money paid at the blood bank is not for the screening, processing and storage of the blood. “Who knows whether it is somebody you know, your relative or friend, well wisher or neighbour, husband or wife that will benefit from that blood you donated tomorrow. You don’t need to have accident before you need blood. A woman who gives birth and end ups losing excessive amount of blood the only way is to replace the blood loss, if the relatives and husband have not been part of those who are donating where will the blood come from? “It is better we make provision for saving lives before the demand for that life will arise. If our people have inculcated the practice of voluntary donation nobody will be running from pillar to post for blood.”