Three hundred units of blood are needed per day to sustain hospitals in the country, according to Dr Thomas Muyombo, the head of the National Centre for Blood Transfusion at Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
Rwanda will on Saturday, August 27 join a global initiative that seeks to collect at least 50,000 blood units in one day in an attempt to break the world record for the most blood donations on calendar day.
This awareness campaign is led by Who is Hussain, a social justice movement hoping to rally blood donors across 250 locations and six continents.
The drive is open to any volunteer willing and eligible to donate blood and will be taking place on the 27 August, at Gakinjioro in Gisozi.
The campaign aims to save 150,000 lives at a time when blood supplies are dangerously low.
In October last year, the UK announced it sought 100,000 new donors to meet rising demand, the US is facing the worst blood shortage they have seen in a decade with the Red Cross declaring the first ever blood crisis and in June this year Australia saw stocks fall to just 2 days’ worth.
The average in the UK is 6 days. In India, recent studies showed that almost 12,000 people die every year because of a lack of blood supplies.
However, Muyombo said that some blood groups rarely run out of stock, it is not frequently but sometimes there is a demand of a specific blood group in Rwanda
"To avoid blood shortage, we have annual blood collection plan, prevents us from blood shortages, we have a database of blood donors, who can donate blood just in case of emergencies,” he said
The annual blood units are 1012 -1020, while the hospital satisfaction is 97.6 per cent.
He added that there are plans to conduct several activities and outreach to get blood. We encourage all those with such initiatives to approach us.
In Rwanda, the Global Blood Heroes Day partnered with different institutions including the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the Red Cross, Naryana Health in India, the National Health Service in the UK and Vitalant in the US.
In Rwanda, the blood donation drive will be held on Saturday at Adarwa cooperative centre in Gisozi, commonly known as Agakiriro, starting at noon.
Muntazir Rai, Director of Who is Hussain said that "We know our goal to save 150,000 lives is ambitious, but we are confident there are thousands of Global Blood Heroes out there who are brave enough to step up to the challenge. In our faith we are told that to ‘save one life is to save all of humanity’.
He added that this could not be true now as they face a blood shortage crisis, he felt it was important to help people find a way to support their communities and the world.
Dr Sayyada Mawji a General Practitioner and aid worker said: "There are a lot of misconceptions out there regarding blood donation. The truth is, it’s very safe, easy and is conducted by healthcare professionals, like me. With just one hour of your time donating blood, you can save up to three adult lives, or up to seven infant lives. Imagine the impact 50,000 donors could make in one day.”