Vodacom Foundation

Three state-of-the-art mobile blood collection clinics that will reach blood donors in underserved and remote communities of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Northern Cape were today handed over to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) by the Vodacom Foundation. The clinics will enable SANBS to extend its services to areas in these Provinces that it has previously not been able to access.

The clinics, worth a total of R1.33-million, were handed over at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria. Shortly afterwards, they began a collection drive on the university grounds.

Last year, Vodacom Foundation donated three such mobile clinics to serve areas in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Free State. The latest donations bring to six the number of provinces that will be served by the SANBS mobile clinics.

Commenting on this contribution, Mthobi Tyamzashe, Chairman of Vodacom Foundation said: "Blood donations save thousands of lives each year. Through the donation of these three mobile clinics, the Vodacom Foundation is delighted to be able to support the SANBS in broadening its reach beyond its current boundaries."

On behalf of the SANBS, the CEO, Dr Loyiso Mpuntsha, said: "The SANBS appreciates the Vodacom Foundation's invaluable funding of the mobile clinics which will expedite blood collection. On many occasions, the country runs short of blood, and the vehicles will help ensure greater efficiency in the collection of blood for those in dire need of it."

The self-contained mobile clinics will also serve as mobile billboards, creating awareness in remote communities that blood transfusion can be done safely and efficiently.

A blood transfusion takes place every 48 seconds in South Africa with Group O blood being in most demand as this blood can be given to any patient in an emergency. Three thousand units need to be collected daily or 780 000 units annually to meet the demand for blood.

According to the SANBS, less than 1% of South Africa's 48 million people donate blood and the culture of blood donation is almost non-existent in some population groups. The organisation says that there is a strong need for initiatives aimed at improving this situation in order to promote blood donation in South Africa.

A non-profit organisation, the SANBS has 87 fixed donation centres and 65 mobile clinics that operate at schools, tertiary institutions, businesses and shopping centres.

The Vodacom Foundation has funded mobile clinics and vehicles for several other initiatives:

• Mobile eye care clinics used to check people's eyesight have been donated to the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) and to the KZN Department of Health;
• 60 mobile libraries have been delivered to underprivileged schools in order to address the library shortage in South Africa.
• A mobile science laboratory allows learners and educators in Mpumalanga to conduct practical experiments and do research in the laboratory; and
• Several mobile health clinics in the Eastern Cape provide primary health care facilities to far-flung rural areas where there is limited or no access to health care facilities.