Obey Judgment Stopping Compulsory Blood Donation, SERAP Tells Lagos State Govt.

Obey Judgment Stopping Compulsory Blood Donation, SERAP Tells Lagos State Govt.

Advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has called on Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to immediately obey Monday’s court judgment ordering all hospitals in the state to stop the practice of mandating husbands to donate blood as a condition for their pregnant wives to access ante-natal care.

The judgment was delivered by Justice Raliat Adebiyi of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, who described the practice as “unconscionable, arbitrary, unfair and a violation of Section 38(1) of the 1999 Constitution,” which guarantees citizens’ right to life”.

Mr. Kolawole Oludare, who is the Deputy Director released a statement on Tuesday, 2nd March, 2020. SERAP maintained the judgment, saying if obeyed, it would inch Nigeria closer to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

It therefore, suggested that, Gov. Sanwo-Olu through his leadership position should “instruct the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, to immediately, fully and effectively enforce the judgment stopping all Lagos hospitals and health facilities from demanding compulsory blood donations from any patients or their relatives as a precondition for medical attention either in antenatal and maternal or any other health services.

“The enforcement of the judgment will also show Lagos State as a champion of the SDGs and be entirely consistent with international standards and best practices, including those developed by the World Health Organisation, which recognise that the safest blood donors are voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors. The WHO has, in fact, recommended that no coercion should be brought to bear upon the donor to donate,” it read.

It also added that, “the effective enforcement of the judgment will also improve maternal health, comply with WHO’s policy to improve the availability and use of safe blood to save the lives of women during and after childbirth, as well as ensure universal access to safe blood transfusion, particularly for patients that are vulnerable to blood shortages and to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C infections, in support of the SDGs.”

In conclusion, “we look forward to working with you, Professor Abayomi and the Lagos State Ministry of Health, in the efforts to enforce and implement the judgment. We would be happy to provide further information or to discuss any of these issues in more detail with you.”

Picture of Teo-Inspiro

Teo-Inspiro

Teo-Inspiro International is a media production company that is changing the narrative by empowering young people with digital skills to showcase the beauty of Africa. We provide photography and video coverage for events, produce films and documentaries that tell the African story and organize training programs on camera handling.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Client

Ubongo International

Role

Content Producer (Nigeria Chapter)

  • Created community engagement videos and digital learning content
  • Produced human-interest features on early childhood learning in underserved communities
Client

International IDEA – Impact of RoLAC Programme (EU-Funded)

Role

Documentary Production Consultant

  • Produced documentary film showcasing justice sector reforms in Nigeria
  • Developed content strategy for visibility and dissemination
  • Coordinated interviews with government actors, CSOs, and international partners
Client

Save The Children

Brief

Provide media and coverage and content development for the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative in Lagos State.

We provided video and photo coverage for all project events assigned in Lagos. A group of 50 children were also trained on content development and storytelling as part of awareness for the project.

We successfully managed the production of events under the project using top-notch professional equipment. The Save the Children team in Lagos had enough videos and photo content for the campaign.

Client

Sanlam of Nigeria

Brief

FBN Insurance was rebranding to Sanlam Nigeria after a merger with the South African company and we had to provide event media production services suitable for an international event.

We shared the brief with all vendors who qualified for the different aspects of the event. We ensured all set up was ready and a dry-run done six hours before the event started.

The South African team was impressed with our professionalism and the event was a huge success with news mentions across platforms within and outside Nigeria.

Client

Helen Keller International

Brief

Ensure professional videography and photography coverage of all projects

Teo-Inspiro International ensured our production team understood the brief for each event and delivered professional coverage and content for all media platforms.

All HKI project events assigned to us were produced successfully. All vendors engaged provided excellent service to the client on every occasion. A short documentary of the 5-year Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle project was produced.

Client

FirstBank of Nigeria

Brief

Provide media content development for the digital marketing team of FirstBank of Nigeria.

Photography coverage of all events hosted and sponsored by FirstBank, live edit and share content with the digital media team for posting on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook live at the event.

Since 2019 we have successfully provided over 2.5million images used on FirstBank’s social media platforms. Due to the quality of content this has increased engagement on the bank’s social media platforms and recently achieved 1million followership on Instagram.

Client

British Council ACT Programme

Brief

Media Engagement Consultancy to support the delivery of the EU-ACT communication and visibility under five (5) objectives. ACT Programme wants to use new and traditional media platforms to create awareness and visibility on the importance of CSOs in achieving the SDGs

We developed the “Civic Action, Sustainable Communities” campaign aimed at showcasing the contributions of CSOs to sustainable development in Nigeria. Digital marketing was deployed across all social media platforms and relevant content curated from the 200 benefiting CSOs on the ACT Programme. A weekly interactive radio program was produced for thirteen weeks across four locations (Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja) on Nigeria Info and Arewa Radio. About twenty-five CSOs and other stakeholders involved in the ACT Programme featured in an international documentary showcasing the impact of the programme. Investigative journalists and feature writers were supported to publish stories and reports covering the thematic areas of the ACT Programme on AIT, Guardian, Vanguard, ThisDay, The Nation, Leadership and BluePrint newspapers. A website was also designed to serve as a repository for all campaign project activities.

The campaign resulted in more recognition and appreciation for CSOs contribution to development in Nigeria by citizens, open dialogue between CSOs and regulatory agencies and other CSOs wanting to be part of the campaign. Asides the social media campaign a documentary about the ACT Programme and its impact on CSOs across Nigeria was produced. Teo-Inspiro leveraged her relationship with broadcast and print media organization to publish feature stories about the positive impact of the Programme in Nigeria. The campaign had over 5,000 followers on social media and over 200,000 reach across platforms. The radio program reached over a million people during the 13-week period.