Rokiah Mahmud
A total of 37 pints of blood were collected during a three-hour donation drive organised by the Neighbourhood Watch Unit of the Berakas Police Station in collaboration with the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital Blood Donation Centre at Multipurpose Hall of the Berakas Police Station yesterday.
Officer-in-Charge of the Berakas Police Station ASP Pengiran Haji Muhammad Habir bin Pengiran Haji Salleh said the drive was held in conjunction with the 101st anniversary of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) establishment, and as part of the unit’s initiative to assist RIPAS Hospital’s Blood Bank Centre to ensure a sufficient blood stock supply.
Meanwhile, RIPAS Hospital Blood Donation Centre Supervisor Haji Matusop bin Haji Daud said on average the centre’s statistics consumed around 50 to 60 pints of blood to treat patients in need of blood transfusion.
Haji Matusop shared that approximately over 20 blood donation campaigns are conducted monthly by government departments, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and others.
Donors must go through health screening before they are eligible to donate blood, to determine fitness and the amount of haemoglobin in the body.
Haji Matusop reminded donors to provide honest and sufficient health condition details, especially those with infectious diseases.
It is an offence under Section 11 of the Infectious Disease Act (Chapter 204) for a person who donates blood or blood product at any blood bank or hospital in Brunei Darussalam and supplies information which he knows to be false or misleading.
If found guilty, the donor can be fined not exceeding BND20,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
