By Henrie Angelie Tam | News Writer
Vol. XCI No. 8
Oct. 4, 2019
“Blood donors, in a way, are heroes because a bag of blood has the potential to save another person’s life,” Dr. Kevin Mijares told students during his talk at the 2019 Blood Donation Activity held at Silliman University Medical School, Sept. 28.
The Association of Philippine Medical Colleges-Student Network (APMC) for Blood Drive Committee of Silliman University Medical Students’ Association (SUMSA), in partnership with Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) Blood Bank, organized the event.
SUMC Blood Bank provided the equipment and staff to collect the blood. A total of 100 people were screened but only 49 bags were collected, according to Victor Giorgio Villegas, SUMSA president.
According to Dr. Kevin Mijares, “donated blood allows patients a better chance at survival and [an] improved quality of life.” He also discussed the information students needed to know about blood donation.
Dr. Mijares pointed out that there is a constant need for a steady supply of blood. The beneficiaries of blood donation are patients who are unable to produce adequate amounts of blood cells and patients with bleeding disorders.
He believes that the benefits donors can get from giving blood is the sense of fulfillment and gratification.
Aside from the sense of happiness it gives, Dr. Mijares stated that there are also physiological benefits to it as well. Donating blood promotes the stimulation of the donor’s blood marrow to produce a fresh batch of red blood cells.
Moreover, certain unknown health conditions can be discovered during the screening test. Some common conditions of these are anemia, hypertension, heart and lung problems.
The Blood Donation Activity was part of a month-long simultaneous blood donation activity called Abuno. It is one of the advocacies of APMC, according to Villegas. The tagline for this year is: “Donate Blood for a Reason, Let your Reason be Life.”
The SU Medical Technology Society, Philippine Association of Medical Technologists – Dumaguete and Siquijor Chapter, and iConcepts Dumaguete were also in partnership with SUMSA during the event.
