‘Churches Bar Members From Donating Blood In South-East

’

The National Blood Transfusion Centre (NBTC) in Enugu has blamed religious and cultural inhibitions for the low rate of blood donation in the South East zone.
The Coordinator of the centre, Dr Michael Chukwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Thursday that
churches in the zone had even banned their members from donating blood.
``This religious problem is a very big thing, especially in this South East, where some clergy men would not allow us to come and sensitise the people during service to get blood.
 ``The culture of the people also that blood is a special thing that should not be given out; but it is the same people that rush here every day to come and access blood,’’ he said.
Chukwu said that the centre might decide to ban those religious groups from accessing blood from it if they continued.
He said the negative attitude had affected the blood bank in the centre as it made less than 200 units a month as against a target of 360 units.
The coordinator also decried the attitude of the government, tertiary institutions and corporate bodies toward supporting and encouraging blood donation.
wettin be their own for there?