IMAGE: Jerome Cristobal
MANILA, Philippines — At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many other medical-related activities, like blood donation, had been sent to the sidelines.
The temporary halt had put the country’s blood bank inventory in a critical level in 2021, according to the Department of Health.
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) — which accounts for about half of the country’s annual supply of the vital liquid — also recorded a decline in blood donations.
However, the eventual loosening of pandemic restrictions has led to the steady increase of blood units stored in the PRC’s stockpile.
Speaking to INQUIRER.net, PRC National Blood Services Director Christie Monina Nalupta shared the current status of the organization’s blood donation drive as the country celebrates Blood Donors’ Month in July.
“Actually, the current supply of blood in the [Philippine] Red Cross is enough to meet the demand, on a day-to-day basis,” Nalupta said in an online interview recently.
At present, Nalupta said the 102 blood facilities of the PRC have a blood supply that would last for 35 days.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan
Nalupta also said that the total number of blood units in PRC banks saw a substantial increase this 2022 compared to last year, based on projections.
So far, she said that PRC collected 210,756 blood units from January to June 2022. For the entire 2021, PRC was able to collect only about 365,000 blood units.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan
“Last year we only collected 365,000 blood units, but now, we are just in the middle of the year and we have collected 210,756 blood units,” Nalupta said. “So basically, by the end of this year, this will double.”
“Most likely we will reach 450,000 blood units,” she added.
The projected 450,000 blood units are still a bit behind the usual pre-pandemic turnout of around 500,000 blood units, according to Nalupta.
Nalupta thanked blood donors who are helping the organization reach its projections, calling them “heroes.”
“We hope they will not get tired of helping those in need,” she said.