The South African National Blood Service has sent an SOS to the country.
With Christmas and New Year on the horizon national blood stocks have dwindled, with just 2.1 days or just over 1958 units of type O blood available country-wide.
“The situation, simply, is critical. We need South Africans, active donors, lapsed donors and potential donors, to stand together right now to bolster the national blood stock,” said SANBS regional marketing manager, Sifiso Khoza.
“While we need sufficient blood stock to cope with periods such as the December holidays, by far the greatest proportion of blood is required in other situations, such as in childbirth and for cancer patients.”
Khoza said that the SANBS is making an earnest appeal for South Africans to step forward and make a donation of blood. Today.
“More than that, however, the SANBS appeals to South Africans to become regular donors. By donating blood only four times a year, we can easily avoid situations such as the one in which we find ourselves,” he said.
