HEMATOLOGICAL STATUS OF BLOOD DONORS IN TERTIARY HEALTH INSTITUTION

ABSTRACT

Blood donors are classified as paid, replacement, and voluntary donors. Blood donated voluntarily is the safest of them. To protect both donors and recipients, blood banking is subject to strict regulations. The purpose of hematological status is to ensure that beneficiaries receive appropriate and secure blood while posing no risk to donors. To protect the safety of the donors, some nations have set minimum donation intervals of 12 weeks and baseline hemoglobin levels of 12 g/dl and 13 g/dl for potential male and female donors, respectively. The World Health Organization (WHO) has established an objective of reaching 100% voluntary non-remunerated blood donation by 2020 as a means of achieving this goal. Nigeria's membership in the WHO has not seen much advancement. In Nigeria, only about 5% of donor blood is given voluntarily; the majority of blood is still obtained from family replacements and paid donors. Nigeria's blood banking system is still in need of improvement because many of its facilities rely on paid donors, the hematological status of whom is frequently unknown before blood donation, as well as donors who may or may not have infectious diseases. To guarantee both donor well-being and the quality of donated blood products, it is crucial to understand the hematological status of blood donors.