Health + Wellness

Radiant Health Woman of Action: Temie Giwa-Tubosun

By Osayi Endolyn
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Published: December 16, 2014


There is a place where public health and technology meet that can save lives. Temie Giwa-Tubosun found that place with the One Percent Project, a platform she launched in 2012 that drives voluntary blood donation in Nigeria, particularly in times of need.

One Percent started when Giwa-Tubosun (recently named one of BBC’s Top 100 Women of 2014) learned that 25 percent of maternal mortality and 40 percent of child mortality was due to a lack of blood in Nigeria’s hospitals. “The fascinating thing was that we only need one percent of Nigerians to give blood to save those lives,” Giwa-Tubosun says. This was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

The organization has implemented blood drives at multiple universities in Nigeria, their website provides a map to approved blood donation centers throughout the country, and they’ve even introduced a blood donor database where Nigerians can begin the process of becoming donors. Giwa-Tubosun says donations are tested and stored by the National Blood Transfusion Service and distributed throughout Nigeria.

GLOBAL GIVING

“All Nigerians deserve access to the best health care in the world,” Giwa-Tubosun says, especially the country’s most vulnerable. “Women and children deserve not to die a preventable death.”

The challenges in running a blood donation non-profit are not always easy to overcome—consistent funding, hiring credible staff, and navigating some of Nigeria’s operational bottlenecks can be difficult, Giwa-Tubosun says. But remembering the end goal re-energizes her. “I want to spend my life creating a better health system for Africa’s mothers and children.”

Learn more at: www.foronepercent.org

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