Gambian Lebanese donate blood to RVTH

The Lebanese community in The Gambia on 16 December 2010 donated over 30 units of blood to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH).

The blood donation, held at the Lebanese Mosque in Pipeline, was graced by a cross section of the Lebanese community in the country.

Speaking to The Point at the ground, Mr Hassan Shour, on behalf of the Lebanese community, said that was the fifth time the community had donated blood to the sick and needy.

“It’s our responsibility and duty to help our brothers and sisters in need of blood,” he says, adding that they donate blood to save the lives of their brothers and sisters in the country.

“The Lebanese community, our blood is for our brothers and sisters in The Gambia whenever they need it,” he says.

Mam Jara Nyabally, a senior blood donor organiser at the RVTH blood bank, described blood as vital saying “blood is life”, while thanking the Lebanese community on behalf of the management of the RVTH for their lifesaving, humanitarian gesture.

She said: “The move is timely as it happened at a time referred to as the malaria season, when pregnant women and children are vulnerable to the disease.”

Blood, she adds, is always needed after accidents and at maternal wards to save the lives of mothers and their babies.

Ms Nyabally appealed to the public to donate blood to the blood bank at the RVTH, saying: “The blood you donate may save the life of your own family member.”