Despite the medical and technological advances of today, humanity has yet to discover ways to manufacture blood. Hence, health-related agencies widely encourage blood donation to enable immediate response in future emergencies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one percent of the total population are encouraged to donate blood each year to sustain the blood bank of a country. However, the Philippines’ blood bank has been falling short in the past years – having only a total of 770,000 blood units in 2015 and 920,000 in 2016. For 2017, for the country to reach its target, at least 1.03 million people (1%) should donate. On June 13, 2018, two decades after the implementation of Republic Act No. 7719, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that the goal of collecting one million blood units has finally achieved. Republic Act No. 7719 highlights the promotion of voluntary blood donation, providing for an adequate supply of safe blood, regulating blood banks, and providing penalties for violation.  

10 Quick Facts on Donating Blood

1. There are three types of blood donors:

• Paid Donors
• Replacement/Family Donation
• Voluntary/Unpaid Donation

2. Blood cannot be manufactured. Scientists have yet to find a successful substitute for human blood. 3. Donating blood is good for your heart. Donating regularly helps your blood reduce its thickness and stickiness, allowing blood to flow more easily through the blood vessels and reach the heart faster. 4. Blood donation doesn’t make you weak. The body will replenish the lost blood in 3-4 weeks. 5. A person with a tattoo can still donate blood. A year after the person received a tattoo, given the fact that the tattooing procedure was done in a sterile manner. 6. Donating once can save up to Three Lives 7. An individual can donate every Three Months 8. Autologous donation. Donors can have their own donated blood for their future use. 9. Donating blood burns calories. You burn about 650 calories through donating blood, equivalent to a 30-minute workout. 10. Type O blood can be used for people with any blood type. It’s also frequently requested by blood banks and hospitals. Bonus Fact: While Blood itself is FREE the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) needs to recover the cost they spent on reagents, blood bags, and other test supplies to continue voluntary service. PRC, however, assures they are strictly following the DOH standard on charging fees. Processing Fees:

• Whole Blood – Php 1,500.00
• Pack Red Cells – Php 1,100.00
• Fresh Frozen Plasm – Php 700.00
• Cryoprecipitate – Php 700.00
• Cryosupernate – Php 700.00

 

Bloodletting Activities

Different PRC chapters nationwide conduct bloodletting activities every now and then:

  — Have you tried donating blood? If you haven’t, donate blood now to save lives!