The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) twitter clinic known as #smart_clinic encouraged people to donate ahead of World Blood Donor Day which falls on the June 14.

This year WHO is observing a theme for the day titled ‘Thank you for saving my life,’ to express gratitude to all the people who save lives by donating blood and blood products.  

Ranjita Sharma, head of medical care unit and specialist registrar at the Dubai Blood Donation Centre said that the Dubai Blood Donation Centre (DBDC) will have additional working hours during the holy month of Ramadan.

Dr Sharma reaffirmed that individuals observing a fast can donate blood after iftar during the holy month of Ramadan.

“People who are fasting can donate blood once they have broken their fast and replenished their bodies with water and food,” she said.

While Dubai is meeting the demand for blood, the centre strongly encourages blood and blood product donation during the summer months because a lot of people leave the country for holidays, she said.

“In the summer months we encourage people to directly visit the centre and donate blood, additionally, we would also like to request people to put their names in our database,  so that we can contact them according to the demand and supply.”

In Dubai, the DHA-run Dubai Blood Donation Centre(DBDC) supplies blood to all government and some private hospitals in Dubai and the northern emirates. Of the total blood requirements in the UAE, 50 per cent is collected by DBDC.

Every blood donation can potentially save up to three lives and blood and blood products are needed for trauma patients,  women who experience severe bleeding after a C-section delivery, during cardiac and other surgeries.

Regular blood and platelet transfusions are needed for thalassaemia patients and those with other blood disorders and for cancer patients who need blood transfusion during and after chemotherapy.

Dr Sharma encouraged the public to not only donate blood but also blood products.

“Regular blood donation takes 15 minutes, while platelet collection takes 45 minutes to one hour. Platelets are needed for a variety of medical reasons including managing post C-section bleeding, for  all kinds of cancer cases etc.”

“It is important to understand that blood expires every 42 days; platelets (which are needed mainly for cancer patients and those experiencing bleeding due an accident or surgical procedure) expire in just five days. Therefore, we prefer to have regular donors who register with us and who can be contacted depending on the need of the centre. Of course a certain amount of all blood and platelets are stored but we cannot overstock a product with such a short shelf life.”

She added that Thalassemia patients, as young as six months, need blood every three to four weeks for survival and this adds to the demand for blood.

“You can donate blood every eight weeks, and platelets up to 24 times a year. With each blood donation you can potentially save up to three lives. “

Zainab Ali, assistant administration officer at the Dubai Blood Donation Centre, encouraged organizations to hold mobile blood donation campaigns.

“We understand the people do not always find the time to come to the Centre and therefore we regularly reach out to them through the mobile blood donation bus, which is fully-equipped and has state-of-the-art facilities for blood collection. At a time, we can collect blood from 200 donors and our message to organisations is to try and organise such blood collection drives at their premises which will directly help in saving lives of community members,” she added.  - TradeArabia News Service