101 Heroes Blood Drive: Jacques Ibula

As strange as it sounds, finding out that he had Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) at age 5 came as a relief for the now 35-year-old Jacques Ibula and his family – they finally knew the origin of his illness. Following his diagnosis, Ibula recalls realizing the difficulties of living with SCD, especially when his family moved back to their native Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The challenges included the restrictions on the activities of this young soccer lover, combined with concerns about the safety of the blood supply he relied on for transfusions given the country’s high HIV rates. 

“The challenges in Africa taught me a lot about the importance of community. My community rallied in giving me blood time after time when I needed it, and the medical support needed to empower me in managing my SCD,” Ibula said. “But with the HIV risk in the country, there was always great concern about the safety of the blood you were receiving.”

However, in 1997, at the age of 21, Ibula settled in the Bay Area. He is now able to take comfort in the fact that he has access to a safe, secure blood supply if he needs it thanks to partners like Blood Centers of the Pacific, Novartis Diagnostics and Oakland Children’s Hospital who work in partnership to ensure that donated blood is properly screened for safety, donor matched and transfused to SCD patients that rely on it.

Increasing the Minority Donor Community

There are more than 80,000 people in the United States with SCD, most of African descent.  Many receive monthly blood transfusions ,  to treat anemia and complications associated with SCD and it is best to receive blood from donors with the same ethnic background.

Today, Ibula who leads “The Jaques Ibula Band” and has been called a rising star by The Music Scene Magazine, is also a Medical Assistant at Oakland Children’s Hospital where he works. He is a staunch advocate for educating young patients through his own experiences and reminding them about the important role minority donors can play.

“I think educating the community, particularly young African Americans, about the importance of becoming a blood donor is essential. But I also think it empowers these young people by offering them a way to give back to their community that doesn’t involve a lot of resources or writing a check.” 

Please join us as we support those who depend on the lifesaving power of donated blood just like Jacques Ibula for our 101 Heroes Blood Drive on September 24, 2011.

Keeping Every Drop of Blood Safe

Every two seconds someone needs a blood transfusion. A new mother might require blood to help save her life after childbirth complications, a young man might need blood after a serious car accident or a teenager might require blood every other week to help her battle sickle cell anemia.

Did you know that before patients like these receive a lifesaving transfusion, the blood goes through a rigorous process, the most critical of which is ensuring it’s safe? Donated blood is screened for more than 10 different infections that could prove deadly to patients including HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and West Nile Virus. This technology has helped revolutionize blood testing and made concerns about transfusion-transmitted infections almost a thing of the past. In fact, in the United States, the chance of getting HIV from a blood transfusion is now less than one in two million. That’s largely thanks to the availability of highly sensitive tests – developed by Novartis Diagnostics – that detect very low levels of infection and allow centers like us to screen donated blood before it reaches patients. Novartis Diagnostics is a global leader in blood safety and they’re based right in our backyard in Emeryville, California.

And in September, Novartis Diagnostics will help ensure even more blood is available to patients by sponsoring BCP’s “101 Heroes Blood Drive,” in support of Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

BCP is grateful to Novartis Diagnostics for helping us deliver safe blood donations to patients in need and for partnering with us to encourage even more people to give the gift of life!