Esther Masundah
One of the strategic objectives of the National Blood Service Zimbabwe (NBSZ) is to enhance marketing, brand awareness and customer service through avenues such as marketing blood donation as a national responsibility.

On June 16 2012, the NBSZ held a blood donation exercise at the NBSZ premises in Harare and Mutare centres. This is the second time this year that journalists have come forward to walk the talk of giving blood.
This noble cause was initially prompted by the death of veteran journalist Freedom Moyo who was ZBC’s current affairs manager after sustaining injuries in a car accident.
Journalists who came to donate blood were from the different departments within the corporation, whilst journalists who donated in Mutare came from the different media houses within the City of Mutare.

The initiative by ZBC also complements NBSZ efforts through its donor mobilisation campaign that aims at increasing the adult blood donor base from 29 percent to 40 percent and the donor retention from 36 percent to 40 percent respectively.
On the day 15 units of blood were collected. This initiative by the ZBC journalists is intended to advocate especially to the media personnel to appreciate and acknowledge the importance of raising awareness, particularly to the adult population to selflessly donate blood.

This calls on journalists to lead by example before they urge others to donate blood when they report.
ZBC assignment editor Albert Chekayi reiterated the importance of donating blood and challenged others to live a lifestyle of walking the talk and continue giving blood. Reporters such as health correspondent Janet Munyaka, Constance Makoni and David Mkhuhlane called upon Zimbabweans to be willing volunteers who donate blood altruistically.

It is imperative to note that this comes after the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe, joined the rest of the world in congratulating all blood donors in Zimbabwe for being heroes and heroines by saving lives through selflessly giving blood.

However, this initiative has managed to foster good relations with the media and NBSZ is now typically perceived as a key player in the health sector since it is the sole provider of safe blood and blood products in Zimbabwe. Some of the stories have helped to demystify some of the myths associated with blood donation.

Eventually this will assist the organisation to foster the culture of donating blood by making it an everyday talk amongst our target audience.
NBSZ would like to take this opportunity to thank the ZBC staff and other journalists for their continued efforts in working together with the NBSZ in promoting its programmes and disseminating information to the public about donating blood.
Give blood, give life! Every drop counts.