Absa Bank Uganda has contributed Shs20million towards the purchase of an automated blood grouping machine for the Rotary Blood Bank at Mengo Hospital.
The contribution is in response to a fundraising drive launched by the Rotary Club to raise $100,000 (over Shs360 million) for the purchase of equipment which is crucial to the proper processing of blood in the blood bank.
“This contribution is an opportunity for us to serve and better our community. Blood is a requirement for all of us and it is an honour for Absa to be part of the effort to ensure that it is available to whoever requires it,” Michael Segwaya, Absa Bank Uganda’s Executive Director and Chief Finance Officer said during the handover of a dummy cheque.
The 800 square meter Mengo Hospital Blood Bank was officially opened in 2017 by the Prime Minister of Uganda, Hon. Dr Ruhakana Rugunda and cost a total of $1,103,000 (over Shs 4billion).
The idea is a brainchild of Rotary Uganda and was born out of the need for a modern facility to complement the National Blood Bank in Nakasero with ultramodern blood banking equipment and specialized staff on hand.
Speaking at the cheque handover ceremony, Ronald Kawadwa, the Chairperson of the Mengo Hospital Rotary Blood Bank applauded Absa Bank Uganda for the gesture.
“Absa Bank Uganda was happy to come on board when we launched this drive two years ago and we were nowhere close to closing the blood shortage gap. As we speak, however, the Mengo Hospital Rotary Blood Bank is contributing 38% of the blood being donated countrywide,”Kawadwa said.
Despite these efforts, the blood bank cannot perform crucial blood processing functions, such as the separation of blood into components and as such, the collected blood is sent to the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services in Nakasero.
Part of the donations received will go towards the procurement of a 6000i Refrigerated Centrifuge, which is used for the qualified production of human blood components.
According to the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service (UBTS), 50 units of blood are required in every regional hospital in the country on a daily basis to treat a variety of medical conditions ranging from accident victims to cancer patients and any shortage places hundreds of patients’ lives at risk.