KZN blood stocks ‘critically low’
With less than two days worth of stock the SANBS has made an urgent appeal for donors to come foreword.
BLOOD stocks in KwaZulu-Natal have run critically low, with the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) announcing that they only have enough supplies to last two days.
Dennis Ngongoma the public relations practitioner for the SANBS said yesterday that their stocks were especially concerning with the Easter weekend slowly approaching.
“On average we need five days supply at any given moment to ensure that people in life threatening situations can receive the necessary treatment,” he said.
According to Ngongoma, they had recently noticed a decline in support from pupils at local schools and tertiary institutions, which constitutes the majority of their donors.
“Over the Easter holidays we not only see in increase in the need for blood with the annual road carnage, but we also see less donors as people are away on holiday. So, if we are low on stock now, what will the situation be like once the holiday season has arrived?” he added.
To meet the quota Ngongoma said they needed 500 units of blood donated on a daily basis.
He urged the community to visit the blood clinic at Kensington Square and to make a life-saving donation.
Yesterday the Ethekwini Hospital and Heart Centre (EHHC) hosted a blood drive in the hopes of alleviating the blood crisis.
“Our target was to collect 11 units of blood but entirely we had 19 donations. We only had 10 deferrals where potential donors’ iron levels were perhaps too low or they did not meet other necessary requirements,” said hospital manager, Niresh Bechan.
He said he felt it was important for the hospital to raise awareness and to educate people of the importance of blood donations.
