David McIntosh: The Global Blood Shortage and the Need for Sustainable Donor Recruitment

David McIntosh, Founder and Chair of United Plasma Action, shared Irish Blood Transfusion Service’s post on LinkedIn:

”This moving Irish message is universal, globally – fresh safe blood is needed every day – essential if lives are not to be lost.

In our comfortable High Income Countries, we can pretty much take it for granted that in any situation where a timely blood transfusion is needed, there’ll be one ready to hand.

However, in the 135 Low and Middle Income Countries in our unequal World, this just isn’t the case at all.

In LMIC, blood supplies are almost always in short supply – often absent altogether.

The consequent suffering and mortality is horrendous.

Thousands of young mothers die in childbirth every month simply because the nation in which they live hasn’t yet managed to provide the adequate blood supply that would have saved them.

Thousands of others suffer the same fate, for the same reason – Sickle Cell sufferers, road accident victims and others – all of whom would have survived to lead fruitful lives, had a timely blood transfusion been available for them.

Of course, the solution to this desperately sad state of affairs lies with the LMIC nations themselves.

If you’re reading this in one of those countries, it will feel highly relevant.

However, the rest of us can help too – by –

• generating greater awareness globally
• lending a hand where possible, with advice and support and maybe an actual donation – in cash or in kind – to LMIC organisations working hard to improve their situation.

Also, International Organisations can help a lot – or, at the very least, not hinder LMIC efforts.

Two that come immediately to mind are the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT).

Questions for both of those two organisations must surely include

• are you sure that you’re doing the best you can to promote, encourage and support blood donation/collection in LMIC?
• given the long history of failure in this field, are you confident that your approaches to the subject are appropriate?
  if ‘yes’ – how do you account for these last many decades of failure?
  if ‘no’ – what do you intend to do about it?

A key aspect of the matter that’s widely misunderstood is donor recruitment and retention.

It’s often implied (wrongly, I believe) that low donor numbers in LMIC are due to a failure of effort – that the HIC advice and exhortation in favour of ‘altruistic’ donation is valid and precious – that the failures are operational, within LMIC.

HIC institutions have been preaching their own favourite approach to donation for decades. It’s only falteringly successful in their own affluent context. It has consistently failed to deliver for patients in less priviliged parts of the World.

What’s missing in this critical area is a realistic practical approach to donor recruitment and retention that includes sensible levels of financial compensation for donors.

Would it be too much to ask the WHO and the ISBT teams to explain their strange stance on this?”

Irish Blood Transfusion Service shared a post on LinkedIn:

”Giving blood ensures help is there the moment it’s needed.

Blood stocks are low and hospitals depend on donors every day, so please book your appointment online or call us on 1800 731 137.”

Proceed to the video attached to the post.

Stay updated with Hemostasis Today.