Sancti Spíritus: More Blood Donors can Join to Save Lives
A liver, heart or kidney transplant requires more than 25 blood transfusions; a neurosurgical operation requires about six to 10 units of red blood cells. Each voluntary blood donation can save up to three people. These are data that speak, connect lives and carry the protagonism of many.
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In spite of the deficit of certain supplies, among these the collection bags, the National Blood Program needs to be revitalized in Sancti Spiritus given the value of this health strategy in saving human lives, considered Dr. Fidel Alvarez Concepcion, director of the Provincial Blood Bank.
The executive highlighted the performance of the municipalities of Taguasco, Yaguajay and Jatibonico, which show favorable results in the territory, thanks to the priority given to this program in the midst of the well-known restrictions existing in the country.
Álvarez Concepción suggested giving more attention to the snacks traditionally given to blood donors after such an altruistic gesture has been made, since the quality and variety has diminished, a reality that limits the activity to a certain degree.
A recent analysis carried out by the Provincial Bureau of the Party revealed the need to strengthen this program, based on a greater support from the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, an organization with a wide power of convocation in its membership.
According to Dr. Fidel Alvarez, the combination of these and other factors has led to a reduction in the number of blood donations, which are of vital importance in complex medical and surgical interventions, in the Maternal and Child Care Program and in emergency responses to natural or human-caused disasters, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Blood donations have a variety of uses in healthcare and industry. They can be used to transfuse a patient or to obtain products such as albumin, interferon, intramuscular and intravenous gamma globulin, among other blood products.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on June 14 to thank voluntary unpaid donors and raise awareness of the need for regular donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products, according to the WHO.
