Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Over 7,000 units of blood collected for year
– but NBTS needs more
For the year thus far, the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) has collected a total 7,500 units, which is closer to meeting the 8,000 target established for 2009.
But while this figure seems to indicate that this is a large supply, the NBTS is once again urging persons to donate.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
The month of December is usually the slowest month for blood collection.
Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, noted that while 5,000 Guyanese have become regular blood donors, the NBTS is still faced with the reality that December is a month of peak demand for blood.
The NBTS needs at least 50 donors per day for the rest of this month in order to meet the expected demand for blood products in the various hospitals.
“It is a season of giving. There is no better gift than the gift of life. Give blood and you would have given the gift of life to someone,” Minister Ramsammy appealed.
He explained that for this year, more Guyanese have become blood donors than any time in Guyana’s history.
The goal of the Ministry of Health is to achieve 7,500 active regular donors donating 12,000 units of blood by 2012.
It was noted that few blood drives are held during this time of the year as for various reasons, organisations and individuals who work with the NBTS to organise blood drives usually find it difficult to mobilise.
“The tendency of collaborators and donors to take a break in December is in direct conflict with the high demand for blood products in December. Please walk into the National Blood Transfusion Service Center in Georgetown and at hospitals in Regions Two, Three, Six and Ten to donate blood,” Dr. Ramsammy pleaded.
This is not the first time that the NBTS is experiencing a blood shortage, as over the past several months, the blood bank had issued urgent appeals for persons to donate.
Recently, the entity was experiencing a severe shortage of all blood types, especially types B-Positive and B-Negative.
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