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| Sunday, 27 June 2004 |
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Colombo women have low haemoglobin levels, say Health officials by Carol Aloysius Are you a female living in Colombo? Do you feel tired, lethargic and lifeless? Watch out - you may be suffering from anaemia as a result of a low haemoglobin level. The bulk of Colombo's female population have low haemoglobin levels - a condition that can lead to severe anaemia if not controlled, a concerned health spokesperson told the "Sunday Observer". "We found low haemoglobin levels among the majority of women who offered to donate their blood when we had our recent blood campaign at the BMICH in connection with the World Blood Donation Day. We had to reject their blood on account of this", Dr. Champa Manchanayake, Senior Medical Officer in charge of the NBTS, told the "Sunday Observer". According to her, the acceptable level of haemoglobin in Sri Lanka was 12 grams per decilitre. Anything below that should sound warning bells, especially if it dips to a sharp low, below eight grams per decilitre, Dr. Manchanayake stressed. "If the level goes down to this level that person can become severely anaemic", she warned. Low haemoglobin levels among females in Colombo was first identified, Dr. Manchanayake claims, when she conducted a survey to assess the haemoglobin levels of female blood donors in the city. "The blood of the bulk of female volunteers at the recent blood campaign at the BMICH confirmed this study," she said. Poor diet and junk food are the chief causes for the low haemoglobin levels among Colombo's female population." Women in Colombo are also more figure conscious and deprive themselves of those extra proteins and vitamin rich foods they should be eating to keep healthy, she pointed out. Their rural counterparts on the other hand had much higher levels of haemoglobin because of their healthy diets. The unprecedented turn out of volunteers aged between 18 years to 60 years from nine provinces who participated in the recent blood donation campaign was double the number of volunteers at the World Blood Ddonation Day last year. This has sparked hopes of a better response from the public to achieve the goal of the NBTS to have hundred percent volunteer blood donations in all the blood banks in the island. " Now out of a thousand persons only eight are willing to donate blood. We would like many more to volunteer their blood as it saves life", the health spokesperson said. Since paid blood donations are legally forbidden in Sri Lanka, the blood banks have to rely on donations to provide blood to patients throughout the island on a 24-hour basis. If you want to donate blood or receive blood, the hotline to the NBTS is 0777-272985 or 236870. |
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