AS the Easter holidays approach, national and provincial roads see an influx of traffic and several road accidents too, which adds to the daily demand for blood.
According to Vanessa Raju, national communications manager at SANBS, it is a time when blood collection is already difficult. This comes about with regular school, tertiary institutions and business blood drives being virtually impossible to assist in sustaining a safe blood stock level to meet the demand.
“In times like this we have to appeal to donors to make their way to one of the closest blood drives or donor centres. Unfortunately, when the holidays arrive, the demand does not decrease, and approximately 3 000 units of blood are still needed by patients daily, and for each day we are unable to make this target, the total units of blood that are available depletes,” said Raju.
She said she understands that many people will be busy or going on holiday during this period, but it only takes about 30 minutes of your time to make a huge difference to others in need of blood.
“Easter is often a time for family, and donating blood is a great way of knowing you may be able to give someone else more time with their family,” added Raju.
If you are in good health and between the ages of 16 and 65, weigh more than 50kg and you lead a sexually safe lifestyle, make your way to your nearest donor centre.
To find out where your nearest donor centre is, visit www.sanbs.org.za, call toll free 0800 119 031 or SMS your name and post code of the area you live in to 31454 and SANBS will text you details of your nearest blood donor centre.
