Even as the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) is appealing for donors to come forward, Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, is calling for the proper storage of blood.At a one-day blood donor recruitment and retention workshop, held yesterday at the Regency Suites, Minister Ramsammy said that the NBTS must ensure that it builds the capacity to collect the blood, as the human resource is necessary.“We have done a good job so far. We are not perfect as yet, but we must improve that capacity every year. We must also ensure that we can take people’s blood and screen it properly, so that it is made safe for those who have to receive it,” Minister Ramsammy said.He also called for blood to be stored, not only at the blood bank, but also at hospitals. According to the Health Minister, the blood bank has the capacity to store each and every drop of blood that it collects, but, he acknowledged, there will always be a need to improve the storage capacity.It was explained that the workshop is intended to train persons from the communities to become community mobilisers in support of the blood safety programme in Guyana, as the workshop is the first such training event to ever take place in the country.Minister Ramsammy noted that the ministry will achieve its annual 10,000 units of blood collection by 2010,Wholesale UK NBA Jerseys, as he noted that when the number was first announced,Authentic NBA T-shirts Canada, most persons were of the belief that it was an impossible target. At that time, only 25 units of blood were being collected, and most of it was through family replacement donors, while approximately eight percent was being collected from voluntary donors. However, a few years later,Jerseys NFL Cheap, the blood bank now routinely collects approximately 7,000 units of blood annually.“We can have doubts about many things. One thing we should never have doubts about is the innate quality of every human being to want to help. If you take the worst criminal on earth, there are times when that person would like to help. But all of us, if there is one thing in one of us, it is that we want to help.“Giving blood is a way through which everyone, rich or poor,Wholesale China Jerseys, whatever ethnicity or religious organisations we belong to, God gave us that substance, it belongs to us and we can share it,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping,” Minister Ramsammy told the participants.He urged for the establishment in Guyana of the crusade of people who will be mandated to encourage others to donate blood.“What you are doing is not an action that will be removed from the reality of human need. The blood that you manage to stimulate others to donate is going to end up saving the lives of people. That is the reason why you are doing what you are doing, and it’s very important.”Country Representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO),Wholesale Jerseys China, Dr. Kathleen Israel, told the participants that the NBTS depends on them to mobilize, stimulate and encourage people to donate blood.“Health is not the business of the health sector alone, and for us to be successful in any aspect of health endeavour, we need to mobilize the support of the private sector,Cheap Jerseys China, civil society, community leaders, faith leaders and the general public at large,” Dr. Israel said.The training was conducted by trainers from Puerto Rico, who are part of the American Red Cross.