SA National Blood Service reveals less than 1% of citizens donate blood
With June being National Blood Donor Month, there are increased calls for more citizens to donate blood.
WeLoveU Foundation members donating blood. Picture: WELOVEYOU Foundation
CAPE TOWN - Latest statistics from the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) show just under 1% of the population donates blood.
That’s below a World Health Organization (WHO) target, which requires countries to have a 1% to 3% donor rate.
With June being National Blood Donor Month, there are increased calls for more citizens to donate blood.
However, the spokesperson for the SANBS, Thandi Mosupye, says socio-economic issues and disease pose a challenge.
“Our previous census from 2022, you will see that South Africa has got about 62 million people, but if you look at the number in terms of donors that are there, you’ll see that we are just short of 1%.”
Mosupye says blood is needed for patients during surgery and paediatric care.
“We need to collect about 3,500 units of blood on a daily basis to meet the demand of the areas in which we are servicing, and in the past, we’ve found ourselves having come short of that number though at this point in time we are doing fairly well in terms of our collection.”