Blood donation bus launched to reach donors all across Dubai

Dubai: Here’s a good news. If you want to donate blood, the donation centre will come at your doorstep.

Dubai Holding and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have launched the ‘The Perfect Gift is Saving Lives’ blood donation campaign, whereby a state-of-the-art bus donated by Dubai Holding to the Dubai Blood Donation Centre (DBDC) will be driven to the communities and retail destinations to collect blood from donors. About 300,000 people live and work in these communities and they will have the convenience of donating blood at their doorsteps with complete COVID-19 compliance. These places include all prominent landmarks in Dubai such as City Walk, The Beach, La Mer, Bluewaters, Last Exit Al Khawaneej, Boxpark, Mudon, The Villa, Shorooq, Ghoroob, Layan, Remraam, Al Khail Gate, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Barsha Heights and Executive Towers at Business Bay.

A fruitful partnership that is community interactive

The three-month campaign that will run from April-July 1 marks the second drive of this long-term partnership between the two organisations devised to motivate residents to donate blood. In the first drive launched in 2019, Dubai Holding had supported the DHA campaign ‘Be the Hero, Save Lives’ blood donation joint initiative, which secured 39,000 units of blood from more than 48,300 registered donors through 645 visits across the emirate. Additionally, Dubai Holding signed an agreement to donate a state-of-the-art blood donation bus to DBDC. The bus was inaugurated in November 2020, equipped with the latest smart technologies and medical equipment that comply with international standards.

Commenting on the partnership, Khalid Al Malik, managing director of Dubai Holding said: “Through ‘The Perfect Gift is Saving Lives’ campaign, we continue to deliver on our commitment, while also instilling values of social responsibility in the community and uniting people through the humanitarian journey of saving lives. Our employees and community members continue to partake in the several activities throughout the year that support the efforts to ensure constant availability of blood for those in need. We look forward to helping save more lives through this initiative.”

Why donating blood is important?

Dr Hussain Al Samt, director of Pathology and Genetics Department at the DHA, thanked Dubai Holding for their long-term support and cooperation. “Every unit of blood donated has the potential to save three lives. It means community members have an opportunity to contribute to this truly humanitarian cause. I would like to encourage them to donate blood regularly. I take this opportunity to thank all those who have donated blood and blood products.”

Commenting on the process of blood donation, Dr Samt said: “It is a simple process, blood donation takes 15 minutes. Thalassaemia patients require regular blood transfusions. Blood is needed for many complex medical and surgical procedures and cancer patients, for women with complications of pregnancy and for accident and emergency cases. The Dubai Blood Donation Centre has received the prestigious AABB accreditation with 100 per cent compliance. We have been accredited by AABB since 2012 and we follow internationally recognized standards of blood collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution.”

Meeting the blood requirements of a community

DBDC receives blood donations from more than 149 nationalities with more than 65,300 registered blood donors and the centre provides around 50 per cent of the total blood collected in the country, ensuring that those in need in both public and private hospitals have access to safe and timely supply of regular blood and blood components such as platelets and plasma.

To view the ‘Blood Donation Guideline’, please visit http://bit.ly/BloodDonationEn. This includes important information, including the documents required, eligibility, registration, COVID-19 criteria and the journey of the DBDC blood donation bus throughout Dubai Holding communities across the Emirate.