Tuguegarao parents donate blood for dengue- affected schoolchildren

By Oliver T. Baccay

Sunday 11th of March 2012

TUGUEGARAO CITY, March 11 (PIA) –- Parents of school children in the elementary schools here have donated their blood in the bloodletting activity initiated by the federation of Parents Teachers and Community Association (PTCA), in partnership with the Informers Club (i-Club), a media organization under the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) .

Hundreds of parents who were potential donors flocked at the Noartheast District and East Central school to undergo screening for the bloodletting where more than a hundred were able to donate blood.

Edmund Pancha, PTA president and I-club board of director, said they have planned the said activity as early as last year and he is thankful that it materialized this time, with the help of the parents as well as the other partner agencies for the benefit of schoolchildren.

He explained that the bloodletting aims to generate enough blood supply for patients in the different hospital and to stock blood units for schoolchildren who might be infected by dengue virus.

“Schoolchildren are prone to dengue and majority of them need blood transfusion that is why we need to act on it by generating blood to save their lives as they are the future of the country,” Pancha stated.

Other donors were also invited such as personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Traffic Management Group (TMG), media practitioners and other civil society organizations.

Pancha said the activity also aims to boost participation of parents and other stakeholders in blood donation to help save lives of others. He is also hopeful that the activity will be institutionalized as an annual event of the association and partner agencies. (TCB/OTB/PIA-2)