As I write this blog, the Lake Zone National Blood Transfusion Service blood bank is overflowing, with additional flooring being laid down to store blood bags given the overwhelming response of residents across all districts of Mara Region to turnout in huge numbers to voluntarily donate blood!
The survival of thousands more of our mothers and babies in Tanzania is possible! Together we can all break new ground and achieve what had seemed insurmountable before... As I write this blog, the Lake Zone National Blood Transfusion Service blood bank is overflowing, with additional flooring being laid down to store blood bags given the overwhelming response of residents across all districts of Mara Region to turnout in huge numbers to voluntarily donate blood!Such a response to mark the national celebrations of World Blood Donor Day that are being held in Mara Region this year has certainly been motivated by the messaging of community mobilisers convincing Mara residents to give the ‘gift of life’, especially to increase the survival of mothers and children. Mama Ye! is a campaign urging for collective responsibility and action to save the lives of thousands of our Tanzanian mothers and babies. Complementing the continental Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) that was launched in Tanzania by the Republican president Dr. Jakaya Kikwete in November 2011, together we are determined to see that ‘No Woman Dies while Giving Life’.Some may ask where the link is between mothers’ survival and blood donation and why has Mama Ye! teamed-up with NBTS and the Mara regional authorities to support this year’s national celebrations of World Blood Donor Day? In my eyes it is simple. Tanzanian national estimates based on WHO data project that 80% of blood donated is used for maternal and paediatric patients. Post-partum haemorrhage is acknowledged as the leading cause of maternal mortality accounting for between one in three to one in five of all maternal deaths in Tanzania. There is a critical shortage of blood supplies in our hospitals – with an estimated one-third only of the required 450,000 blood units collected in Tanzania every year.It cannot be denied that some of our mothers who heavily bleed during and after childbirth are dying due to the shortage of blood in our health facilities. When heavily bleeding after childbirth, women may need blood transfusion to survive. If blood supplies are readily available in our health facilities, then more mothers’ lives will be saved. In turn, if more mothers’ lives are saved, then more babies’ lives will also be saved, given the intimate link between neonatal and maternal survival. Importantly for Mama Ye! – donating blood is also a very visible and powerful action which can be taken by everyone across all walks of life to engage and participate in saving mothers lives. It is a highly personal decision to donate blood. If the reasoning to donate blood is motivated as a contribution to save the lives of mothers then it is likely to catalyse other actions that everyone can take to save our mothers and babies lives. For example, encouraging pregnant mothers to attend at least four visits of ante-natal care; enabling mothers to give birth in a health facility where there is a skilled provider by arranging for their transport or looking after their children back at home; and following-up with councillors and local leaders what is being done to improve the availability and access to quality maternal and newborn health services.Mara Oyee!! What a resounding message you have delivered over the past couple of weeks to raise the expectations of mothers and babies survival!! NBTS have confirmed that blood donation during such a national event has reached unprecedented levels!!More than 1,250 people donated blood during district-level events in Bunda, Butiama, Serengeti, Tarime and Rorya last week. This week residents of Musoma Municipality are similarly turning out in large numbers to be counted – with more than 500 people donating blood over the past two days alone, while additionally penning their personal pledges and further calls to action for saving the lives of mothers and babies across Mara region.Amazingly, since regional preparations for nationally marking World Blood Donor Day started in mid-April, more than 5,000 blood units have been collected across Mara region. Visit our facebook page to see photos of how Mara Region has created history this year in the national celebrations of World Blood Donor Day in Tanzania!!Crucially - there is another resounding lesson delivered by the residents of Mara: there is no reason for our hospitals to lack blood supplies for saving lives. This is a conclusion I have personally heard repeated by the Mara regional authorities, the leadership of NBTS, and also the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare who has come to grace the occasion.Additionally, NBTS has committed to setting-up a satellite blood bank at the Musoma Regional Referral Hospital, rather than all blood supplies first being transported to and fro the Zonal blood bank in Mwanza City nearly 250 kilometres away. The Mara regional authorities are determined to ensure that this kind of turnout for blood donation can be a sustainable event across the region.What had seemed impossible has now been possible. Mara residents have shown that adequate blood supplies can be raised across Tanzanian communities. All mothers and children needing blood should be guaranteed access to this unparalleled gift of life.Let the actions of Mara residents inspire and empower us all – across Tanzanian communities, the network of maternal and newborn stakeholders, and our decision-makers and leadership at all levels – to stand-up and be counted personally in taking action to ensure the survival of thousands of our mothers and babies who are tragically, and in so many cases unnecessarily, dying at the point of bringing celebrated new life to our communities and nation.Click here for the Mama Ye! infographics about how giving blood can save the life of a mother or baby in Tanzania >