The National Blood Service Zimbabwe (NBSZ) is satisfied with blood stock levels ahead of the Easter and Independence holidays.
This year Easter Sunday is on 17 April, a day before Independence Day. The holidays are normally associated with a rise in road traffic accidents as tens of thousands of people travel to different destinations.
NBSZ communications officer Kudakwashe Chidziya said the national blood bank is “well-stocked”. He said:
Currently, we have good bloodstocks ahead of the holidays. However, it is never definite whether we have adequate stocks or not considering how this is determined by demand.
We hope that road carnage will be less so that there is no huge demand for blood.
Chidziya, however, urged citizens to come forward and donate more blood.
In 2020, there were 63 069 blood donors but the number fell down to 40 863 in early 2021 but rose marginally in the last quarter of 2021 to 41 525.