Rebecca Ejiforma
LifeBlood Nigeria, in collaboration with High Life Church, International Missions Opportunities (IMO) and Bethel Ministries have provided free medical services to over 3,000 residents of Ajah, Lagos in dental treatment, provision of glasses, surgeries and medical counseling, among others.
LifeBlood Nigeria which was launched last June, aims to address the current gap in the quantity of blood being supplied in the country also used the opportunity that the outreach offered to organise a blood drive.
According to Abiola Okubanjo of LifeBlood Nigeria, the medical outreach was embarked on to save the lives of Nigerians, who ordinarily cannot afford the cost of medicare. “My organisation will continue to explore many more ways to add value to the lives of the less-privileged in the society.”
As a result of lack of affordable medicare, he noted that many people have died or suffered permanent injury in the country. Hence, LifeBlood Nigeria is saddened by this and has decided to contribute its own quota to help save lives through outreaches.
“We are, therefore, looking for partners who can sponsor blood drives and provide project funding for our objectives to be achieved. Our current sponsors include: Australian High Commission and High Life Church. We need more partners in order to achieve this objective,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pastor of High Life Church, Carlton Williams, said the purpose of the blood drive which held at Bethel Church and High Life Church, Lekki, Lagos, was in response to the acute blood supply shortage being witnessed in Nigeria.
He said the donated blood from the blood drive would help support the efforts of international aid agency, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with lifesaving blood supplies for the 244,000 people in Borno State who are suffering from acute malnutrition as a result of the Boko Haram conflict.
On his part, Co-founder of IMO, Mr. Bola Adebisi, a Pastor, affirmed that medical volunteers from across the nation and the United States teamed up to make IMO’s slogan, providing surgeries to those who need it most, a reality.
LifeBlood Nigeria, as an independent NGO, aims to: foster a culture of regular, voluntary blood donation so that Nigeria has enough supplies of blood to deal with normal needs and national emergencies; build and maintain a national voluntary donor database to make the process of donating blood simpler, safer and more pleasant.
“The drive is to become a centre of excellence in the provision of blood products and services so that every Nigerian has access to safe and appropriate blood when and where they need it and at a price they can afford,” Okubanjo said.
