A doctor at Karuri District Hospital in Kiambu County has urged area residents to abandon negative beliefs about blood transfusion.
Speaking at the hospital today, Doctor Margret Auma said that people in central province have developed a phobia for blood transfusion as they only have a negative mentality about the practice.
She mentioned that during a blood transfusion exercise held at the hospital earlier this year, she overheard residents visiting the facility discouraging each not to donate blood.
She said that the reasons they gave were irrelevant and they need to be educated on the facts about this harmless practice.
Doctor Auma said that people in the region need to hear the facts as most of them tend to think that the blood they donate is sold which they think is unfair.
This is however not the case as the doctor said the blood is used to save lives in hospitals during operations.
Auma claimed that the blood transfusion council is partly to blame for people shying away from donating blood.
According to her, the council should undertake the initiative of educating the members of the public on the importance of the blood transfusion before they donate so they can know the positive impact they will have by donating blood.
She said that in most cases, people are just given soft drinks which is not appealing to people. She added that in her experience, blood transfusion is viewed as a thing for brave people due to the fact that a needle connected to a pipe is used to pierce a vein on the arm.
The doctor assured the residents that the process is totally painless urging more people should try it.
She called on residents of Banana and its environs to show up whenever they are asked to donate blood. She also said that people from other counties should be educated on the same.