Gadjah Mada Medical Center Clinic of Universitas Gadjah Mada (GMC UGM) held a blood donation drive and free pap smear screening on Saturday (Jan. 10) to mark the beginning of a series of events celebrating its 25th anniversary. The activity, held at the GMC UGM, was attended by approximately 150 participants, including students, staff, and members of the general public.
Head of the GMC UGM, Dr. Yayuk Soraya, stated that both activities were aimed at providing preventive health services while also supporting the availability of medical blood supplies. For the blood donation program, the clinic collaborated with the UGM Academic Hospital (RSA UGM).
“This agenda aims to assist the RSA UGM team in providing the blood needed by patients. After all, the demand for blood is very high, so sufficient availability is essential to avoid shortages when it is urgently needed,” she explained.
Dr. Soraya also noted that the blood donation drive is a routine annual agenda item.
“Every year, as part of GMC UGM’s anniversary celebrations, we always organize a blood donation drive. In addition, on certain occasions, we also collaborate with integrated health service posts (posbindu) at each faculty to conduct health check-ups combined with blood donation activities,” she added.
Meanwhile, the pap smear screening service was conducted in collaboration with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan and Parahita Laboratory. Dr. Soraya explained that the service was specifically intended for sexually active women, as an early detection measure for cervical cancer (CA Cervix).
Despite the high number of registrants, Dr. Soraya emphasized that the clinic and its team continued to implement strict screening procedures. This was done to ensure the safety and quality of the donated blood as well as the health of participants before any procedures were carried out.
Of the total registrants, 60 individuals were declared eligible and successfully donated blood. This included 12 units of blood type A, 18 units of type B, 25 units of type O, and 5 units of type AB.
Meanwhile, 12 registrants were deemed ineligible after health screening due to not meeting the required medical criteria. On the other hand, the pap smear service attracted 50 participants, of whom five did not meet the screening requirements.
One of the participants, Novi, expressed that this routine program greatly helped her. A mother of two who has been a loyal GMC UGM patient since her university years, she described GMC UGM’s services as highly responsive and informative.
Although she was unable to donate blood this time due to low hemoglobin levels, Novi was still pleased to take advantage of the free pap smear service.
“I donate blood quite regularly, but today my hemoglobin level was low, so I didn’t pass the screening. In the end, I only had the pap smear examination. The service has always been satisfying since my student days. The doctors are informative, the facilities are complete, the service is excellent, and very responsive,” she concluded.
Author: Aldi Firmansyah
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Rajendra Arya
Photographs: GMC UGM