Guyana is one of seven countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean that collect over 50% of blood from voluntary donors, PAHO/WHO said in a press release yesterday.
The release, issued to mark World Blood Donor Day being observed today listed the other countries as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, and Saint Lucia.
Eleven countries and territories of the Americas obtain 100% of blood from voluntary donors: Cuba, Nicaragua, Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, French Overseas Departments, Montserrat, Suriname, Canada and the United States of America.
Meanwhile, in Latin America and the Caribbean, just over 45% of the approximately 9.2 million blood units collected for transfusions in 2014 came from voluntary donors, while the remaining 55% came from replacement donors, typically relatives or friends who donate blood on an emergency basis to replace used by a patient, PAHO said.
The release noted that while the percentage of voluntary donation in countries in the Americas had increased modestly, by 4 percentage points between 2010 and 2014 (from 41% to 45%), PAHO is urging people to use this year’s campaign as the perfect opportunity to become regular voluntary blood donors. The theme for this year’s observance is ‘Share life, give blood’.
PAHO said it estimated that at least 2% of the population must donate blood on a regular basis if a country is to meet its needs for blood and other blood components. In Latin America and the Caribbean, blood collection rates average about 1.5%.
World Blood Donor Day was designated in 2004 to help motivate regular donors to continue donating blood and to encourage healthy people who have never donated to do so, especially young people.
This year’s campaign draws attention to the important role that voluntary-donation systems play in encouraging people to care for one another and to promote community cohesion.
The release quoted PAHO/WHO regional advisor on blood services and organ transplants María Dolores Pérez-Rosales as saying, “Community participation is essential to achieving universal access to a safe, sufficient, and sustainable blood supply that ensures that blood and blood components are available when and where they are needed. We need both the commitment of health authorities and the solidarity of entire communities, because donating blood several times a year is a simple act that saves lives.”
PAHO is working with its member countries toward receiving 100% of blood needed through voluntary donation by 2019. PAHO’s technical cooperation promotes voluntary donation through support for training of health professionals, community education, and blood supply planning, among other activities, the release said.
It added that PAHO also collaborates in implementing quality management programmes for the blood transfusion chain. These programmes seek to ensure that all blood units are screened for transfusion-transmissible infections (eg HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, and Trypanosoma cruzi) while also promoting the rational use of blood and blood components, strengthening of health surveillance, haemovigilance, risk management, monitoring, and evaluation.
PAHO Director Carissa F Etienne noted that in many countries the demand for blood exceeds the available supply. “It is only by collecting sufficient blood from voluntary unpaid donors that we can ensure its availability, quality, and safety,” she was quoted as saying.
The release noted that blood and blood components are essential to help people survive a number of severe health conditions, medical procedures, complex surgeries, childbirth, and injuries from accidents and disasters. Every voluntary altruistic blood donation can save as many as three lives.
