Expats donate blood in Eastern Province

More than 300 expatriates in the Eastern Province have donated 268 units of blood across three major hospitals in the region on Friday. The expatriates were from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Egypt.
The event was organized by the South Indian organization Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath (TNTJ), in cooperation with the Alkhobar King Fahd Hospital, Dammam Central Hospital and the Jubail General Hospital. The campaign was conducted under the direct supervision of the Director of Regional Laboratory at the Dammam Central Hospital.
The hospital authorities thanked TNTJ organizers for arranging such a noble service on a regular basis. TNTJ head in Dammam, Umar Farooq, told Arab News that so far the organization has conducted 40 campaigns in Alkhobar, Dammam, Qatif and Jubail hospitals. Further, TNTJ continues to be the number one organization for conducting such blood donation campaigns during the last 9 years.
“We conduct these campaigns in accordance with Chapter 5 verse 32 of the noble Qur’an: “Whoever saves a life will be as if he has saved entire mankind.”
“Surely, this will help in creating social harmony and razes hatred among us," said a TNTJ representative.
TNTJ continues to be number the one organization in blood donation in Tamil Nadu, as well as in GCC countries. In India, the Tamil Nadu government has awarded a number of awards to them for their noble work.
A standard health screening procedure is carried out prior to the extraction of blood, whereby a donor undergoes tests for blood pressure, glucose and hemoglobin count. The checks also include tests for communicable diseases.
According to a royal decree issued in 1405 H, the Ministry of Health does not import blood from foreign countries; rather, blood is collected from residents and citizens who make a voluntary donation of their blood regularly. The twenty health directorates in the Kingdom are permitted make their own arrangements with the voluntary blood donors to contribute to this worthy cause.
An official from the health ministry said there are 152 blood banks throughout the Kingdom, which include 15 central blood banks, 17 large blood banks and 120 others to cover all the regions and governorates in the Kingdom.
An official from the general directorate of Blood Banks and Laboratories said that donors can donate blood at their own convenience. He also pointed out that there are 20,000 voluntary blood donors who were awarded a Third Degree Medal from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for their services to the nation.