BUJUMBURA, February 17th (ABP) – Blood is a necessary element for life and essential in hospitals to save patients’ lives. This was announced by Dr. Félicien Nzotungwanayo, Director General of the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS), during the interview he gave to a check by ABP on February 13, 2025.
Dr. Nzotungwanayo indicated that blood donation is an act of compassion, and allows the donor to know the state of their health and blood group. They can know whether or not they are a carrier of diseases such as HIV AIDS, hepatitis type B and C, syphilis and others. The donor also benefits from advice on the behavior to adopt in case the results reveal they are positive for certain diseases.
In addition, the body adapts to produce more blood to replace the one that was removed in 72 hours, he said.
The Director General of the CNTS took the opportunity to clarify that people with the O negative blood group are exposed to the dangers associated with the lack of blood since they donate blood to all other blood groups but only receive blood from their group, and few people have this blood group in Burundi. He calls on everyone to support the activity of saving lives by donating blood.
According to Dr. Nzotungwanayo, blood has an inestimable value. The amount paid by the patient in need of blood is used to purchase the packaging, catheters and the cost of blood tests. This explains why blood is purchased while the CNTS collects it for free.
Speaking of the challenges, he indicated that sometimes the processing and analysis machines break down and it takes a lot of resources to repair them. He also asks the government to continue supporting this programme because, he emphasizes, it requires a lot of resources in terms of treatment, travel and awareness of the activity.
It is worth recalling that it is advisable to donate blood once every three months and that the maximum quantity to be donated is 450 ml.