Kota Kinabalu:The 7th edition of Lions Service Day, organised by Lions Club International (LCI) District 308-A2, offers free health services and awareness programmes.
Organising Chairperson and President of Lions Club of Kota Kinabalu Asia City, Vincent Voo, said this Signature Project aims to provide free services to the community and create awareness for better maintenance of a healthy lifestyle.
“Among the services provided were blood donation, diabetes screening, eye screening, and high blood pressure and BMI screening.
“Additionally, we successfully completed a tree planting project at SK Tanjung Aru II yesterday, and the funds raised will be contributed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (HWKKS).
“We have set up a booth for the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle project to collect used or pre-loved items such as books, clothes, household items, toys, and others.
These items will be channelled to HWKKS for children with cancer, the needy, or other less fortunate individuals,” he said in his welcoming speech at Kompleks Asia City, here, on Saturday.
Vincent added they are raising funds to contribute to the Palliative Care Association by securing items that are in high demand, such as oxygen supplies.
He said that Lions Club also champion global causes by inviting Programme Peka B40 to provide free medical check-up for the B40 group.
“We invited Persatuan Ibu Tunggal Sabah (Pitsa) to provide a platform for single mothers to promote the fruits of their labour through skills learned from our Women Empowerment Project, led by President Regina Sulit of Lions Club of KK Capital,” Vincent said.
He said the collaboration of 10 Lion Clubs with government agencies, NGOs, and private businesses is key to mutual understanding and fostering stronger relationships to achieve common goals.
Meanwhile, State Health Director Datuk Dr Asits Sanna expressed support for the programmes, noting that they reflected the concern of Lions Clubs in achieving their noble desire to save lives.
The initiatives also contribute to increasing the blood stock for hospitals in the state, addressing critical conditions in the state’s blood supply.
“Blood supply requirements for the state in government hospitals are 78,000–80,000 units of blood bags per year, or 215-220 units of bags per day,” Asits said when launching the programme.
He said blood donation from the public is currently delayed or reduced due to concerns about the risk of being outside the house and the fear of contracting diseases, especially considering the anticipated increase in Covid-19 cases in December 2023.
Asits praised the swift action by the Lions Club, emphasising the importance of blood safety and hygiene. He noted that in recent years, issues such as HIV, H1N1, and hepatitis A, B, and C have been on the rise in the country.
Furthermore, Asits pointed out that between 2011 and 2019, there was an increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in individuals aged 18 and above in the state, rising from 5.7 to 9.8 per cent.
This increase translates to a total of 195,000 Sabahans suffering from diabetes in 2019.
“Similarly, the prevalence of obesity had also increased from 10.6 per cent in 2011 to 15.7 per cent in 2019,” he said.
Asits urged those interested in becoming organisers of blood donation campaigns to contact officials at all hospital blood banks throughout Malaysia.
“You can refer to the social media pages of blood banks at the hospital for more information on the nearest mobile blood donation location or contact the Transfusion Medicine Department of Hospital Queen Elizabeth II for coordination,” he said.
