27 April 2016 - In a country facing ongoing conflict, safe blood transfusions are a life-saving necessity. They are used to treat those suffering from gunshot wounds and conflict-related injuries, but also children suffering from anaemia due to malnutrition often worsened by malaria, survivors of road traffic accidents and mothers who experience excessive blood loss during childbirth are bleeding severely.

But in South Sudan, the supply of blood and blood products has been severely limited. One hospital in Juba, the nation’s capital, for example, collected a mere 124 voluntary blood donations in 2014. The resulting shortage was costing lives.

In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of Japan collaborated to provide support to the South Sudanese Ministry of Health in boosting the nation’s safe blood supply.

“Thanks to funding from Japan, we were able to work with local health authorities to put together a public advocacy campaign to convince more people in South Sudan to donate blood,” said Dr Abdulmumini Usman, the WHO Representative to South Sudan. “As a result, we witnessed a tenfold increase in voluntary blood donations in 2015, with assured safety. Without question, this initiative is keeping people alive.”