Whitelines Education Services Limited, Uganda’s leading school travel company and Rainbow International School have conducted a blood donation drive in Kampala in an effort to increase the volume of blood at the Uganda Blood Bank.
The blood donation exercise which takes place at the School is an annual event aimed at addressing the shortage of blood in the country.According to World Health Organisation (WHO),Uganda needs about 300,000 units of blood annually although 170,000 are collected annually.
“The blood we are collecting today will be used in in hospitals to save lives of; pregnant mothers, cancer patients, sicklers, accident victims, people requiring surgical procedures, among others,” Mr Oscar Ofumbi, Managing Director, Whitelines Education Services said at the blood drive.
“We are happy to be part of this noble cause because it is part of our overall corporate social responsibility programme. We know that for every unit of blood donated, 3 lives can be or will be saved.”
Every year, UBTS collects up to 200,000 units of blood of which 60% of this goes to children, pregnant mothers, cancer patients, sicklers, accident victims and people living with HIV/AIDs.
Whitelines Education Services’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme involves distribution of scholastic materials to UPE Schools, offering free transport to students. The company also supports efforts to reduce youth unemployment, the school library challenge and any other efforts to improve the quality of education in the country.
As part of this effort, Whitelines Edcuation Service handed over 10 boxes of mineral water to be used by the donors and support staff of Uganda Blood Transfusion.
“We believe this exercise will humbly contribute to addressing the shortage of blood in the country. Through this drive, we intend to raise up to over 10,000 units of blood,” he added.
The company pledged to support further the initiative until the shortage of blood in the country is addressed because of the impressive work they have done over time.