Declining reserves due to the virulence of winter viruses and a season – combining extreme cold and preparation for the holidays – not always encouraging travel to the sites provided for this purpose. This Thursday, the French Blood Establishment deplored the weakness of blood donations and called for their rebound via a press release published on Thursday.
The French Blood Establishment (EFS) called on Thursday for a necessary mobilization of donors in the face of the drop in blood supplies, altered by winter viruses. “Less than 85,000 blood bags are available today when more than 100,000 are needed to meet the needs of patients during this winter period”, detailed the EFS in a press release.
“The collection will not stop during the holidays”, underlines Herve Meinrad, director of Collection and Production at the EFS, quoted in the press release, calling for the mobilization of the population. Some “10,000 donations are needed every day to treat patients, for whom blood transfusions are the only alternative to being treated”, recalls the EFS.
A mobilization that must be daily
Mobilization for blood donation must be daily because the shelf life of blood products is limited (7 days for platelets, 42 days for red blood cells). According to the EFS, holidays, difficult weather conditions, preparation for festivities or even seasonal epidemics are all factors leading to a drop in attendance at donation sites.
This year, the flu and Covid-19 epidemics “strongly affect donors”, but also EFS staff, “which sometimes forces them to cancel or reduce collections”, explained the establishment. A list of collection points can be viewed on the dondesang.efs.sante.fr website or on the Don de sang app.
Source: BFM TV
