Kongo Central : sensitisation for voluntary blood donation

Matadi, June 15^th, 2025 (CPA) – The population of the province of Kongo Central, in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was urged to donate blood on a voluntary basis by the provincial coordinating doctor of the Provincial Blood Transfusion Centre (CPTS) on Saturday to mark World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), CPA has learned on Sunday from a health source. ‘We are launching this appeal to save human lives in our medical facilities, which regularly have shortfalls in cases of need for women in childbirth and accident victims,’ has declared Dr Debs Nzuau, provincial coordinating doctor of the Kongo Central Provincial Blood Transfusion Centre. He has described the blood transfusion situation in the province of Kongo Central as still alarming, pointing out that only 33.9% of blood donations were made by voluntary donors in 2024. Dr Nzuau Bamona has called on anyone of goodwill and good health, aged 18 or over, to join the practice of voluntary and regular blood donation, in order to increase the availability of blood and thus meet the ever-increasing needs. ‘The celebration of World Blood Donor Day provides an opportunity to thank voluntary donors for the life-saving gesture they make by giving blood, and to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the availability of quality blood for patients in need, particularly children, as well as women during pregnancy or support’, he has added. The theme of the 21^st Blood Donor Day was ‘21 years of blood donation celebrations: united by blood donation’.