Donate blood to meet need of the hour, people in Oman urged

Muscat: People in Oman have been asked to donate blood at an upcoming drive, which is being organised to help hospitals at a time when there is urgent need of it for those in critical condition.

The blood donation drive is being organised by the Indian Social Club in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Department of Blood Bank Services on Friday, 30 October, at their premises in Darsait. The ISC aims to collect a total of 500 pints of blood from such campaigns, having already run four drives so far.

“This is a time when the hospitals are facing a shortage of blood because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have patients who really need it,” said Dr Sathish Nambiar, the chairman of the Indian Social Club, and the organiser of the blood drive.

“Anyone is welcome to our premises to donate blood on that day… this is not just restricted to expatriates alone.

“When you donate, your body has the capability to replace it in about three months, so in giving a small amount of your blood, you could be saving someone else’s life,” he added. “All of us here need to give back to the community during the time of need, so I would encourage as many people as possible to come forward.”

Donors who show up at the Indian Social Club premises on Friday will be made to enter in batches, and will first be assessed whether they are fit to give blood. Those with chronic issues such as diabetes, as well has people who have travelled to areas that have a high occurrence of malaria, will not be allowed to donate.

“The Ministry of Health approached us and asked us if we would be able to run a blood donation campaign, and we said we’d be happy to do so whenever the people from the blood banks were available,” said Nambiar.

“We plan on conducting more drives like this in future, whenever the ministry needs our assistance, and as keeping the availability of the teams from the blood bank in mind.”