Dear Editor,

Receiving an adequate supply of blood has always been a challenge for the Ministry of Health in Guyana, and health facilities and organisations all over the world. Recently here, there has been a flood of public announcements on the TV and radio about the dire need for blood by the various hospitals. Sometimes I wonder perhaps if the ministry starts dishing out cash for blood, the shortage would cease to exist. But that is not, nor can it be the case, since the donation of blood must be deemed a voluntary and unpaid act – a selfless one really.

On the scientific side of things, blood has been one of the things that man has never been able to reproduce or make, at least, not the quantity to be used in surgeries and transfusions. Blood is said to be the sea in which the soul resides. The first instances of giving blood go back to the time of Christopher Columbus while he was crossing the Atlantic in 1492, and Pope Innocent VIII was ill. Blood was taken from three youths; they all died, including the pontiff. It is believed that the pope drank the blood.

After numerous medical experiments with transfusing blood and so on, it was 1667 when a young French boy’s life was saved by the blood of a lamb. In 1818, the first human-to-human transfusion was done, even though these procedures had high health risks since medical technology during those times was in its primitive and initial stages.

It was in 1900 when a doctor discovered the several types of human blood and concluded that a successful transfusion hinged on the matching blood types between donor and recipient. Storing the valued substance became the next challenge and over the years, blood had been refrigerated and stored to last until needed.

Last week, I hesitated before I decided to answer the call of the Ministry of Health, and my fellow Guyanese who are in dire need of this liquid of life. I had passed the regional blood bank daily and saw that the doors had been opened. The building was functioning. I had been critical a few months ago as I questioned when the building would have gone into operation since the government had built it over two years now in the compound of the New Amsterdam Hospital.

Notwithstanding my fear of needles and all, I decided to knock on the door of the regional blood bank. I had donated blood twice before – a blood drive hosted by a television station in New Amsterdam in April of 2009 included.

But apart from the moral joy and inner peace one gets after donating blood, there are innumerable health benefits to the human body! The human body takes in more iron than it needs and thus, donating blood regularly sheds some of that iron. Excessive iron in the blood is thought to contribute to heart disease. The haemoglobin check prior to giving blood will determine if iron levels are sufficient, so there is no need to worry. Studies have also shown that men who donate blood regularly live healthier lives in that that they can lower the risks of heart disease if they donate blood regularly.

The respected American Medical Association found that giving blood every six months led to fewer strokes and heart attacks in test participants aged 43-61.

And I completed the act in just over 15 minutes. The feeling afterwards was nothing short of exuberance and rejuvenation. You feel it, I swear; you feel brand  new, renewed, as if the old has exited your body and new will be created shortly. In fact, fresh blood is regenerated 48 hours after your donation, and all of the red blood cells you lose are replaced within 4-8 weeks. Now isn’t that fantastic! The human body knows how to do its work without us even telling it to do so.

The presence of blood is certainly a gift within a gift itself. The human body makes blood continuously every day. Why then don’t some people respond to the call to give blood on a regular basis? I would exclude those who have medical conditions from giving blood. But it is a moral matter for others who know that they have the capacity to give this vital substance but do not make time or effort to donate blood. How do some of us live with ourselves when we go about our daily lives, hear and see the pleas on the radio, TV and newspapers and not respond to this noble duty? Just knowing that one pint of blood can save 3 of my fellow human beings’ lives alone can bring joy and satisfaction to the heart. Are we a population that is conscious of the realities of the times in which we live? Or are we living in the clouds as each day passes and we only think of our own selfish desires and needs? Donating some of what you have underscores the act of giving and giving freely what God has blessed you with. But today our society does not give wholeheartedly, and the culture of giving, but expecting in return is certainly cause for concern.

Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran