Motivations and deterrents toward blood donation in Kampala, Uganda

Severe malaria, hemorrhage during childbirth, sickle cell anemia, injury from road accidents, and other medical conditions that necessitate blood transfusions affect thousands of Ugandans every year. However, only 0.3–0.5% of the population donates blood, which is less than half of the proportion recommended by the World Health Organization to maintain a sufficient supply in blood banks and health facilities. In January 2018, Uganda faced crisis level blood shortages, increasing preventable deaths in the country as patients lacked access to life-saving transfusions. To understand the factors that impact a person's decision to give blood and to inform public health campaigns that seek to promote donation, researchers collaborated with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services (UBTS) and the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), the primary actors in blood donation in Uganda, to conduct 50 semi-structured in-depth interviews with blood donors and non-donors and 22 key informant interviews with UBTS and URCS staff members. Through qualitative data analysis using Dedoose software, this study identified several key motivations that promote donation, including altruism, civic duty, and opportunities for disease testing, as well as important deterrents, including fear of needles and blood and lack of awareness of or access to blood donation drives. Results have been shared with blood collection agencies to inform public health campaigns that seek to dispel fears and promote motivations toward donation to increase the blood supply and decrease preventable deaths in Uganda.