An Argentine blood bank is working to boost its supply through a donors' club, according to a medical expert involved in the campaign.
Dr. Graciela Amerise, medical coordinator at the Buenos Aires Blood Bank Foundation, spoke with Xinhua recently in the lead up to World Blood Donor Day on Tuesday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated June 14 as a day to raise awareness worldwide about the importance of giving blood to save lives, a message that rings particularly true less than two days after the worst mass shooting in the U.S. history killed 49 and wounded another 53 in Orlando, Florida.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Orlando residents lined up outside blood banks, as area hospitals worked to save the victims.
Members of the blood donors' club in Buenos Aires pledge to donate on a regular basis, such as three times a year, and also help spread the word about the need to voluntarily give blood.
According to the WHO, only regular, voluntary, unpaid blood donations can guarantee a community has a sufficient supply of safe blood.
"Having 100 percent voluntary donors is ideal," said Amerise, because "when a donor is pressured (by a family medical emergency or by need for money) he may not answer questions honestly."
Around the world, many blood banks only accept strictly voluntary blood donors to ensure the screening process is effective.
According to the WHO, some "62 countries collect 100 percent of their blood supply from voluntary, unpaid blood donors." But that occurs mainly in high-income countries.
In many parts of the world, demand outstrips supply, often for a particular type of blood.
"In Argentina it's very difficult to get O-type blood," said Amerise, though in general the larger problem is "the shortage of donors. That's why we are trying to raise awareness."
"You don't need to have a family member or friend in the hospital, any healthy person can come and donate blood," she added.
"If every healthy person voluntarily donates at least twice a year, we could meet the needs of nearly all the patients around the country who need a transfusion," said Amerise.
According to the WHO, "blood donation by one percent of the population can meet a nation's most basic requirements for blood."
In addition to June 14, Nov. 9 has traditionally been a day to give blood in Argentina, since it was on that day in 1914 that Argentinian researcher and physician Dr. Luis Agote performed the first non-direct blood transfusion in the Americas. (Xinhua)
