The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) through its National Blood Safety Program, kicked off a voluntary blood donation initiative on Wednesday, 3 April 2024.

The initiative was kicked off with the slogan "Every blood donor is a hero."

The program is captioned under the theme: "Addressing Liberia's need to ensure access to safe quality blood and blood products for a healthy population through voluntary non-paid blood donation."

The voluntary blood donation initiative began at One United Nations House in Monrovia, where stakeholders, including WHO Representative Dr. Peter Clement and others, donated blood at the UN clinic.

Later, the program extended to the Ministry of Health, where dozens of citizens, including medical students from the University of Liberia, had trooped and donated blood.

After donating blood, WHO Representative Dr. Peter Clement said his voluntary blood donation was an action of the WHO to identify some of the critical health challenges.

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According to him, this gesture also gears towards raising awareness on access to blood because it is a major commodity.

"Many of our women, girls, and children die at various health facilities because of blood. This gesture is to encourage others to do so to address this emergency," said Dr. Clement.

Also speaking at the One United Nations House after donating blood, Ms. Nathalie Poni, UNICEF Report Officer, expressed excitement over the exercise.

According to her, it's her first time donating blood and she felt good doing so to save lives.