Dubai: Hundreds turned out for the blood donation drive and free health check-ups organised by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in association with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Thursday, as part of the Public Transport Day activities.
Two medical camps were held, one each at Airport Terminal 3 station and Dubai Healthcare City station, that saw people from diverse walks of life participate.
But the biggest draw was the blood donation drive that was held at Al Ghubaibah station, where snaking queues of people eager to part with their blood could be seen since morning.
RTA had announced free Nol cards for the first donors, but according to an official working at the camp around 200 people had already signed up by 11am.
“The enthusiasm that we see for the good causes is really heartening. We got excellent response today, apart form common people 19 government bodies participated and this motivates us to organise more such events in the future,” said Eisa Abdurrahman Al Dossari, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
Among the participants who stood out was 40-year-old Prathaban, who is in a habit of donating blood.
“I have a rare blood group O-, which is very difficult to find and I get a lot of calls. I like the idea of donating blood because it saves lives, but sadly you are only allowed to donate only once every six months,” said Prathaban, who is RTA’s intercity bus driver.
But one would wonder what is the relation between public transport and health camps, but RTA insists there is a strong bond between the two, which has led it to organise this year’s event around the health theme.
“This is a new concept, people must have heard that public transport saves environment, saves money etc but it also helps people stay fitter as it requires people to walk at least for 20 to 25 minutes up and down on their way to metro and back,” said Al Dossari.
