“BLOOD DONATION is one of the non-ritual ways that people can use to make a difference in a person’s life. It also helps in critical situations, in addition to saving the life of a person who needs a blood donation immediately.”
According to the CEO of Affinity Health, Mr. Murray Hewlett, he encourages people to donate blood to help those who need it.
The month of June is known as National Blood Donor Month, where a month-long campaign is being carried out around the world to encourage people to donate blood in general to help save the lives of others.
Hewlett said that donating blood is talked about as if it is something simple and trivial, until it is ignored that each and every blood donation helps to save the life of a person who is between death and life.
“There are many situations that make people need to donate blood, such as a mother who bleeds excessively when giving birth prematurely, in others it is a person who has been rushed to surgery after being involved in a car accident or a patient with a disease that requires constant blood transfusion,” said Hewlett.
The shortage of blood donated by people has been confirmed by the South African National Blood Services (SANBS) as they disclosed that they are looking to collect 3 500 units of blood every day to meet the required blood volume.
SANBS also disclosed that it is concerned that currently only one in 140 people donates blood regularly, which means that there is always a pressure of shortage of blood that is needed by those who need to donate. It is also said that one unit of blood that is donated becomes in the right condition to be used only for 42 days, which continues to be a pressure and if that time has passed, there are not many people who continue to donate blood in general.
Why are certain types of blood needed in emergencies?
All types of blood are necessary and important, but some are needed more than others, especially in critical and emergency situations.
That has been confirmed by the Western Cape Blood Services (WCBS), as it has revealed that blood type Blood O is the type of blood that can work well for people with other blood types that are different from it, while Blood O-negative works well and especially for those who are facing emergencies and critical situations that require blood transfusions.
Hospitals also need to donate blood properly and be of all types, which is why there should not be too much focus on one type of blood. That’s all that makes it so important that everyone participates in this.
Who should be allowed to donate blood?
- A person aged between 16 and 75.
- Must be a person with a body weight of at least 50kg and above.
- Must be in good health.
- It must be someone who can withstand the 56-day rituals of the blood donation process.