KOTA KINABALU:ANSARA/MRSM the ‘18 th Annual 3-days Nationwide Pre-Ramadan Blood
Donation Campaign’(ABDC24) will be held at IMAGO Shopping Mall Kota Kinabalu at Basement level (Next to Burger King) on for three days.
The event to start from March 1 to March 3 is being jointly organised by ANSARA / MRSM Sabah Chapter and Jabatan Kesihatan Negara (JKN), Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu South, Sai Baba Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Relief Agency (MRA) Sabah Branch, KOKI (MRSM) Kota Kinabalu, PEKESAN, PEMIKIR and IMAGO Shopping Mall.
The campaign will be officiated by Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakub Haji Johari, the Chairman of
University College Yayasan Sabah (UCYS) and the Board of Directors of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
The 18 th Annual Campaign Sabah Chapter is targeting 300 to 350 pints this year that will be distributed to three hospitals namely, Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), Sabah Women and Children Hospital Likas and Kudat General Hospital.
ANSARA is an alumni association for MARA Junior Science College (MJSC) or more popularly
known as Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM). The first MRSM was established in 1972 in
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Today, there are 57 MRSM all over the country where five of them are located in Sabah. The first MRSM in Sabah was started in 2002 and is located at Kinarut. The latest MRSM in Sabah is located in Ranau and will start taking students March this year.
The development costs of MRSM Ranau was sponsored by PETRONAS. The Pre-Ramadan ABDC was launched in 2007 where 13 different locations throughout West Malaysia collected 2,160 pints of blood. The campaign is held before the month of Ramadan.
The alumni of ANSARA was concerned that when they found out that hospitals in the country are facing an emergency blood shortage as they experience the lowest number
of people giving blood in the month of Ramadan. For the alumni of MRSM Sabah Chapter,
this is the first time it participated in the campaign.
Tuan Haji Abdul Kadir bin Haji Damsal, the Chairman for the campaign, pleaded to members of the public who are eligible to donate to come forward and help to save precious lives.
He noted that according to recent statistics, just 2.5 per cent of Malaysians who are
physically capable of donating blood, do so. Thus, by making an appointment to
donate blood you help to save three lives at once. He is hoping that with ABDC24 Sabah Chapter, donors can pump up the blood supply and keep it from falling to shortage levels at the three hospitals.
He said, it is most distressing situation to see a hospital full of patients and an empty
refrigerator without any blood products. A person needs lifesaving blood every day in
our country and its availability can be the difference between life and death,
however, blood is only available thanks to the generosity of those who roll up a
sleeve or show their arm to donate.
He thanked, on behalf of alumni MRSM Sabah Chapter, Jabatan Kesihatan Negara
(JKN) Sabah for giving them the opportunity to be involved with blood donation
campaign.
He also expressed gratitude to the participating partners whose assistance and support have been invaluable to make this 18th ABDC24 Sabah Chapter a reality.-pr/BNN
