By Pretty Chavango .
Zimbabwe, Harare. (News Of The South) – The National Blood services Zimbabwe on Tuesday officially opened their new clinic at the Joina City shopping mall .
The new clinic which comes at a time when the organization had been operating from a caravan in open space is meant to bring convenience to blood donors by bringing the service to their door step and providing easier accessibility.
The National Blood Services Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer Mr David Mvere said they had been previously conducting business in the streets, First street and Mazowe St, were they faced challenges like rain and hygienic challenges.
Although the new facility is small Mr Mvere said they are expecting the volume of donated blood to double from the 30 units per day they were getting per day in the street .
Mr Willard Mutambanengwe a senior blood donor expressed his happiness at the new facility saying it will now decrease his walking distance whenever he wishes to make a donation as it is now closer and easily accessible : ’’ I hear there is also a gym at the new facility , I will exercise after making my donation and keep fit, this means more years to donate’’, he said .
Guest of honor Dr Agnes Mahomva, who is President of the Zimbabwe Medical Association spoke on the importance of blood transfusions in saving lives of those who lose a lot of blood during war , accidents or childbirth ‘’ we are very grateful and proud of our national blood transfusion services for providing high quality services for the health of the nation in line with international standards ‘’ said Mahomva .
It is one of Zimbabwe’s aim to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health goal 4 and 5 of the millennium development goals Dr Mahomva however spoke of women still dying after blood loss during birth either because they could not access health facilities or could not pay for the blood services , she urged people to donate blood to avoid loss of lives because there was no blood to transfuse .
Zimbabwe was one of the few countries globally to put in place measures to ensure blood products are safe and free from diseases , a lot of work and expertise goes into screening and processing donated blood to make it is safe for use to the nation .
The Joina city clinic is open weekdays through to Saturday from 0800-1700hrs and closes at 1730 pm Wednesdays for further convenience.
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