Sri Lankans donate blood |04 July 2013

The “blood donation drive”, which was organised by the Sri Lanka Association of Seychelles, also coincided with the arrival of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a three-day state visit in Seychelles.

The blood donors were happy that Health Minister Mitcy Larue, her principal secretary Peggy Vidot and public health commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon, were present.

Minister Larue thanked members of the Sri Lankan community for the initiative which she said will boost the already good relations between Sri Lanka and Seychelles.
“It is a small but very important gesture which will further strengthen the solid relations between our two countries,” commented Minister Larue.

Sri Lanka Association of Seychelles chairperson Rajeeva Jayatilake, who works for Intelvision which sponsored the activity, said the Independence day and the visit of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa represented an opportune time to kick-start the blood drive which they want to turn into an annual event.

“Blood donation is considered one of the greatest services one can render to humanity and the association is calling on other nationalities living in Seychelles to emulate this commendable gesture which strengthens friendship, unity and harmony among peoples of different communities,” he said.

Yvonne Bristol, the nurse in charge of the blood transfusion unit with the Ministry of Health, said the blood donation represents about one month of stock in the blood bank.

She said that her unit has embarked on an outreach programme in order to get more people to donate blood. She also called on other foreign communities and more Seychellois to come forward and help save lives by donating blood.