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Nigeria

Hospital visit leads tosafer blood supply

From the moment he set foot in

the University of Uyo TeachingHospital in Nigeria, Warren Kaufmanknew he wanted to help. The cash-strapped hospital was sorely lackingequipment, and Kaufman says the l1eedwas "just too compelling" not to act.

That was in 2002, and Kaufman, a

member of the Rotary Club of CarmelValley,Calif., was visiting Africa with aGroup Study Exchange team. Before theexchange was over, Kaufman and hishost, Edemekong Edemekong, 2002-03president of the Rotary Club of Uyo,Nigeria, had launched an effort toimprove blood storageconditions at the hospital.To help get the project offthe ground, Edemekong andKaufman enlisted the help of one of thebest in the field, Dr. John Watson-Williams, a California resident who

spent 10 years working in Uganda andNigeria and whom Kaufman describesas "the father of modern hematology" inNigeria. Today, Watson-Williams servesas Safe Blood Africa'smedical adviser.

The joint effort, knowntoday as the Safe BloodAfrica project, led to theconstruction of a new blood

bank at the University ofUyo Teaching Hospital.Previously, blood was stored in an oldrefrigerator,and if it wasn't used withinfour hours, it had to be destroyed.

Edemekong saysimproper blood storagehas led to unnecessarydeaths in Nigeria,and Kaufman estimatesthat the addition

of this blood bank could saveas many as8,000 livesannually.

Safe Blood Africa is also working tocreate a voluntary blood donor system.Much of Nigeria still operates under apaid-donor system, which contributes toshortagesand can compromise the safetyof the blood supply. Under the currentsystem, people only donate when theyneed money, sometimes leaving banks

FieldReports

Kaufman testsnew equipment at

the blDDdbank.

The need was'justtoo

compelling' notto act.

16 THE ROTARIAN + DECEMBER 2004

without blood at crucial

moments. The system alsoprompts some to lie about

their health history to maintain eligibilityas donors. Kaufman says that patientsreceiving blood through the paid-donorsystem have a l-in-lO chance of dyingfrom blood-borne infections contractedas a result of the transfusion.

In order to help remedy theseproblems, SafeBloodAfricaisworking to

make voluntary blooddonation more socially

acceptable. Kaufman sayscertain traditional beliefS

deter some potentialdonors. Further restricting

the number of donations is the fact that

people of high status sometimes refusetogive blood to those of lower status. AtWatson-Williams' request, Rotarians aresetting an example by recruitingvolunteer donors from their own ranks.

The Uyo club is responsible forstocking and maintaining the bank, andtheir work has already proved successful:Two lives were saved the day after theequipment was installed.

According to Edemekong, the hospitalstaff is grateful for the upgrades, "Everytime I go to the hospital, the medicaldirector is happy," he says.

- MATTREPCHAK

.Florida

Rotarians strike dealto help disabled bowlers

Before an accident lefr him

paralyzed from the neck down, BillMiller was an activecollegestudent. TheLeesburg,Fla., resident, now 27, loved towork out and play racquetball. At theUniversity of Florida, intramural flagfootball was his sport of choice. But justas he was about to srart his senior year, adorm room fall dislocated two vertebrae

and bruised his spinal cord. Afrer the1997 accident, recreationtook a"backseatto more fundamental challenges as hebegan the arduous process of relearningto talk, eat, and breathe without the aidof a ventilator.

Then Miller met Claude Giguere, amember of the Rotary Club of TheVillages, Fla., and a former GeneralMotors engineer. Afrer learning aboutMiller's desire to get back into somesort of recreational activity from the

young man's stepmother, a judge in acourtroom where Giguere was a vol-unteer for the local sheriff's department,he set out to designa portable devicethatwould allow anyone to bowl. He enlistedMiller's help, and the pair workedtogether to fine-rune a device called anIKAN Bowler, which attaches to a