During the pandemic, blood donation in Latin America and the Caribbean decreased by 20%, so the initiative of the university group brought together units of the Alma Mater and health entities of the District to act against the problem.
At the University of Magdalena, the University Medical Scientific Association – ACMUN commemorated World Blood Donor Day with a massive donation day, where nearly 220 people from the Alma Mater and the external community voluntarily and safely supplied their tissue liquid connective.
The initiative of the student group of the Medicine Program was an act of social responsibility with the territory aligned with its mission objectives, especially because according to the Pan American Health Organization – PAHO, during the pandemic blood donation decreased by 20% in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Blood cannot be synthesized. The only way to obtain it is through another human being. That is why it is good that as an association we promote the culture of donation and, at the same time, we are fulfilling our role of replenishing the blood banks of the city of Santa Marta”, explained Andrés Murillo Jurado, representative of the students of the Faculty of Sciences Of the health.
This activity was nourished by conferences on the importance of blood compatibility and its clinical utility, anemia syndrome, transfusion reactions and haemolytic disease of the newborn, in order to provide information to the volunteers who came to the campus.
The student Gissell Valencia Villanueva, president of ACMUN, emphasized the importance of donating blood as a heroic act that saves three lives with every 450 ml dispensed. “Any person who has the possibility should do it voluntarily and without pay. In the world, every two or three seconds people are requiring transfusions,” she pointed out.
The ‘donate’ was supported by the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Directorate of University Welfare and included the participation of guest speakers responsible for providing generic information on the process. In addition, the blood banks of the Mar Caribe Clinic and Diagnosalud were linked, which were in charge of the extraction operation.
The students of this House of Higher Studies were the majority donor public, aware of the need to contribute to the supply of the banks in the District. “It was something I had thought about for a long time, I hadn’t had the opportunity. It is important because there are people who require it due to an accident or illness,” said Julio Espitia Quintero, in the eighth semester of the Medicine Program. Likewise, the young Daniel Cadena Rivera, an Industrial Engineering student, was one of the volunteers who went to the Julio Otero Muñoz auditorium because he considered that his act of solidarity was essential to save lives, especially in the current situation.
It should be noted that the University Medical Scientific Association is an organization legally constituted since April 2021 and in its period of existence has led numerous actions with great social sense to provide solutions to problems in the area of health of the local and regional order, ratifying that at UNIMAGDALENA, professionals committed to society are trained.
