WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY 2023 – SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT, ISLAMIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (IMAN)

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaah wabarakatu.

Dear Muslim Healthcare practitioner, my Muslim brethren and the general public.

This is the third year IMAN as a body adopted June 14th in line with WHO as a day to encourage and mobilize ourselves to donate blood to save lives. Alhamdulillah, so far so good.

The theme of this year’s World Blood Donor Day is Give Blood, give Plasma, Share life, share often. The theme of the year takes us further to understand that both Blood and its components are useful for the sustenance of human life.

When Blood is donated, it can be separated into plasma, cells etc and each of these components has specific use in different situations for different persons. Thus the theme emphasises to us all that Blood donated may be put to use in several ways that enhances life.

As a body we know, that Allaah says in the Qur’an, Suratul Maida chapter 5 verse 32 that whosoever saves a life shall be reckoned as if he saved the entire humanity.

Giving Blood and its products through separation technologies have been known to save a lot of lives while beneficial to the donors themselves through reduction of unnecessary iron load, prevention of diseases and boosting the immunity. Thus Blood donation when done in the right setting is a win-win situation for both the donors and the recipients.

As we turn out en masse to donate Blood voluntarily in our various institutions for onward use by those in need, we encourage you to do same and invite others of your colleagues and household members. It is equally important to ensure best practice during the donation process.

Thank you, God bless and jazaakumullaahu khayra.


Prof Ibrahim A Oreagba
President, IMAN
June 14th 2023