With the holy month of Ramadhan is approaching, the Central Blood Bank in Bausher has exhorted donors to visit the Centre during the working hours and donate blood.
Every year, there is a remarkable drop in blood donors visiting the Centre to donate blood during the fasting month even though it has been declared harmless.
Donating blood and platelets during the month of Ramadhan is absolutely harmless, and a fasting person can donate blood any time of the day.
However, due to restoration and other medical reasons and to keep the person safe, medics say one can donate blood after breaking the fast.
However, people who are not fasting are welcome to donate blood or platelets during the day.
His Eminence Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad al Khalili, the Grand Mufti, has earlier issued a decree on this, saying blood can be donated after Iftar as transfusion amounts to breaking fast during the day.
Besides, the less working timings in the holy month is another deterrent as many don’t find time to visit the Centre.
Usually, the Centre is open from 8 am till 1 pm and from 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm, except on Friday.
“We conducted a public blood donation drive in association with the National Blood Bank because of the holy month when fewer people turn up to donate blood’’, said TP Muneer, a social worker who steered a camp on Friday.
The camp was conducted in association with the ‘We Help Blood Donors Oman’ and Muscat KMCC Al Khoudh area Committee at the Muscat Premier Medical Centre, where nearly 70 people from different backgrounds joined hands in the mission supervised by the officials from the Ministry of Health.
“We earnestly request all fellow beings to visit the Blood Bank and donate the lifesaving liquid to support the national initiatives to save lives’’, the team said.
“To meet the scarcity of donors during the month, the Blood Bank conducts mobile blood drives from 8 pm to 11 pm and as many as 30 mobile blood donation drives are usually lined up for the month at various parts of the country’’, a spokesperson from the Blood Bank said.
“Additionally, the bank makes it a point to collect an additional storage of blood prior to the beginning of the month so that the need for blood can be met to a great extent’’, she added.
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