JUBA, 4 November 2019 – PETRONAS through its subsidiary, PETRONAS Carigali Nile Limited (PCNL), organised its first blood donation drive, themed “Donate Blood, Save Lives” at the PETRONAS Complex here on 2 November 2019 to help address the critical shortage of safe blood in South Sudan.
The event is a collaboration between PCNL, National Blood Transfusion Services under Ministry of Health the Republic of South Sudan with support from World Health Organisation, South Sudan Red Cross, Amref Health Africa and Medical Response for the Diplomatic Corps International.
Officiating the event was the Acting Director General of Ministry of Health the Republic of South Sudan, Mr Michael Lasuba, accompanied by PETRONAS South Sudan Country Head, Anuar Ismail.
Anuar in his speech said: “We were made aware that there is a critical shortage of safe blood in South Sudan, and PETRONAS decided to take action by collaborating with the Ministries and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with this blood donation drive to help the people of South Sudan.”
“As a responsible corporate citizen, PCNL continuously looks forward to co-develop sustainable community-based programmes for the people of South Sudan with the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Health, other relevant Ministries and partners. This blood donation drive marks our first collaboration between PCNL, the National Blood Transfusion Services under the Ministry of Health and its partners and we are committed to continue supporting the blood transfusion programme in South Sudan as well as other programmes that improves the quality of life of the communities surrounding our area of operations,” he added.
Michael Lasuba expressed the Ministry of Health’s recognition to PETRONAS for its effort in organising the blood donation drive which garnered over 35 blood donours.
Other programmes being carried out by PETRONAS in South Sudan include PETRONAS Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) with a total of 80 scholars to date and Water for Life projects which benefitted more than 40,000 people in Juba.