NTB to power island wide blood donation campaign

Nations Trust Bank has joined forces with the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) of Sri Lanka in a nationwide campaign to create awareness about the importance of blood donation and to educate the public on the vital social need for a secure, unrestricted supply of quality-assured blood and 
blood components. 
The campaign is part of Nations Trust Bank’s broad spectrum of CSR initiatives and will be launched on 3rd January 2017 with the initial drive to be carried out over a six month period and a long term engagement plan with the project in place.
While Nations Trust bank will concentrate its efforts on NBTS Blood Banks at the National Blood Centre – Narahenpita, Maharagama Cancer Hospital,Kandy Teaching Hospital, Matara District General Hospital, Jaffna Teaching Hospital, Badulla Provincial General Hospital and Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, an eligible donor can walk in to any one of the NBTS’s 96 Blood Banks around the island at any time and 
donate blood. 
The NBTS, operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, collects blood from voluntary blood donors, through mobile blood donation campaigns and in-house donations atBlood Banks. Currently, donors prefer mobile campaigns over in-house donation, resulting in the underutilization of the infrastructure at Blood Banks – a key issue that this awareness campaign hopes to resolve is letting the public know that the hospital based blood bank centres are open daily from 8am to 4pn, even on weekends and public holidays.
Commenting on the initiative, Theja Silva, the Deputy General Manager – Legal & Administration and Head of Sustainability and CSR at Nations Trust Bank said, ‘If we can encourage people to donate blood in-house instead of at mobile camps, we can help ensure the vital and efficient supply of good quality blood for those in need. We, at Nations Trust Bank, invite all including our customers and employees, to participate in this campaign. Even if you aren’t in a position to be a donor, you can create awareness by spreading the word.It’s something to think about because one day it could be you or me on that operating table in desperate need of life saving blood. I would like to call on everyone to join us in this effort on the 3rd of January 2017.’