Attitudes, Prevalence and Barriers towards Voluntary Blood Donation among Residents of the Western Urban Region, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Background Blood is a vital body fluid that transports nutrients and oxygen to cells and removes their metabolic wastes. Voluntary non-remunerated blood donation is the safest type with the lowest risk of transmitting infections through transfusions. The World Health Organization WHO suggests that a country should aim to receive ten donations per 1000 people to meet its blood supply requirements.Objective This study assessed attitudes prevalence and barriers towards blood donation among residents in the Western Urban Region of Zanzibar.Methods A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Mwanak werekwe Ward in Zanzibar from March 20 2023 to June 19 2023. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science SPSS version 26 which analyzed frequencies and percentages.Results The results revealed that 49 of the participants showed positive attitudes in their responses which is generally poor. Meanwhile 41 displayed negative attitudes and the remaining 10 were neutral. About 40 of the participants had donated blood before. Among those who had not donated 51.7 reported a lack of awareness as the reason 25 claimed fear of needles and 23.3 mentioned health issues.Conclusion This study generally reported poor positive attitudes and significant barriers to blood donation among participants from the study population. The study reported side effects and disqualifications due to health conditions indicating a need for healthcare interventions to attract more donors and improve blood donation practices in the future.