Rwandans have been called to donate blood, with focus on people with Type O blood group which officials say is in high demand at the medical facilities across the country.

Blood group O is the universal donor, meaning, a person with this group can donate blood to someone with anygroup.

The call was made by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre through the National Centre for Blood Transfusion (NCBT).

Using his twitter handle, the Division Manager of NCBT, Dr Thomas Muyombo said; "The Nation Centre for Blood Transfusion in RBC is calling upon you to save the lives of patients. Type O blood group is in high demand, so we ask all people with this type to reach out to us and donate”, read the tweet.

Contacted for details, Muyombo highlighted that blood group O is in high demand compared to other blood types.

"Among the eight blood groups that exist, O is in high demand in our stock, that is why we want to stock large quantities to avoid any eventuality where we will out of stock,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Muyombo clarified that call should not mean that there is a crisis in the country, at least at the moment.

"It does not mean we are facing any form of crisis, it is just because the demand of this type is high, and hence we need more people to chip in and help,” he added.

Currently, the hospital satisfaction of blood donation in Rwanda stands at 96% which is within the recommended situations by the World Health Organisation.

This actually means when a hospital orders for certain units of blood, they are able to get 96% of their order.

Muyombo also commended Rwandans for their effort in blood donation, which he says has led to the non-remunerated blood donation type rather than family replacement used by many people.

"But we’re doing quite well. In some other countries, they mostly employ family replacement method of blood donation where in case someone needs blood, they pick another person from the family to donate, because solidarity to donate blood is very low,” he exemplified.

But in Rwanda, he added, they still get blood through non-remunerated blood donation which is where blood comes from well-wishers and kept in banks in case someone in the future needs it.

Scientists estimate that one donor saves the lives of at least three people, and in case there is blood shortage, the prominent result becomes death.

They urge everyone to avoid turning a deaf ear to blood donation, but rather consider it a matter of concern because even if it is someone else in need of this precious resource today, it could be you tomorrow.