WBDD 2012, NCBT has continually ensured that blood is properly tested using standardized techniques

Every year, countries throughout every region of the world organize a huge variety of events and activities to celebrate the World Blood Donor Day from football matches to free concerts, and from mobile blood donation clinics to monumental decorations.

WHO and partners have decided to focus the 2012 campaign on the idea that every one of us can become a hero simply by giving blood.

The everyday hero responds to an immediate need, whatever the conditions, despite inconvenience, putting the needs of others above their own. Voluntary blood donors come from all walks of life, all regions, backgrounds, religions and ages. By choosing to donate blood without getting paid, these individuals commit a "heroic" act, a gesture of human solidarity with the power to save lives. Some of them do so dozens of times over several decades.

In 2012, the theme for World Blood Donor Day is "Every blood donor is a Hero". This theme reinforces the urgent need for more people all over the world to become life-savers by volunteering to donate blood regularly.

In Rwanda, the Rwanda Biomedical Centre / National Centre for Blood Transfusion (RBC/NCBT) together with Ministry of Health and Blood donors, 14th June each year, is a huge day of variety events and activities to thank our voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. This year, we are celebrating the World Blood Donor Day in Rubavu, Western Province, on June 14, 2012.
The theme is “Every blood donor is a Hero” in Kinyarwanda “Umuntu wese utanga amaraso ni Intwari”.

Main Objective is : “To show appreciation to people who donate the precious gift of life through their donation of blood every year ;” but also :

 Provide a global platform to celebrate and thank individuals who donate blood voluntarily, for altruistic reasons and without any monetary reward,
 Promote and support the establishment of effective national blood donor programmes and the elimination of a dependency on family/replacement and paid blood donation,
 Promote and support national activities to celebrate and promote voluntary non-remunerated blood donation by : encouraging existing low-risk voluntary donors to give blood regularly, encouraging new people to donate blood on a voluntary unpaid basis, promoting low-risk behavior so that individuals protect their own health as well as being safe to donate blood and build wider public awareness of the need for regular blood donation throughout the year in order to maintain an adequate supply of blood for all patients requiring transfusion.

NCBT has continually ensured that blood is properly tested using standardized techniques.

All collected blood units are tested for TTIs (HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis) using Architect i2000sr automated machine. In the past two years prevalence stood as follows :

The proportion of discarded blood was reduced from 10.6% to 6.86%
 Immuno-Hematology testing for all collected blood units has been done using Qualys 3 automated machine.
 An MoU has been signed between NCBT and the NRL for confirmatory tests to be performed from NRL prior to carrying out donor notification.

“We encourage people to donate safe blood for saving patients’ lives”.
“Every Blood Donor is a Hero”

June 2012