The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation yesterday said that blood stocks of all major types are running low in Taipei and urged regular donors to maintain their health so people could be saved through their contributions.
In celebration of World Blood Donor Day on Friday, the foundation held an event in Taipei yesterday to thank donors.
The “safe blood for all” slogan was developed by the WHO for this year’s blood drive, it said, adding that the message includes a plea to donors to manage their health to protect people’s right to safe blood when they face medical emergencies.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
However, with the three-day weekend last week and heavy rain this week, blood stocks are running low, dangerously so in Taipei, which had less than a four-day supply, it said.
A safe level at blood banks is at least a seven-day supply, the Taipei Blood Center’s Liu Chun-hong (劉俊宏) said, adding that hopefully more people would donate with good weather forecast for yesterday and today.
The National Development Council announced that Taiwan last year became an “aging society” and is predicted to become a “super-aged society” by 2026, so the number of young people donating is expected to fall, the foundation said.
There were approximately 409,000 donations made by people aged 17 to 20 in 1999, but only 157,000 by them last year, a decline of 61.6 percent, it said, adding that donations among that age group fell from 25.37 percent of all donors to 14.9 percent.
A program called YoungBlood was launched in 2015 to encourage more young people to donate at least 10 times in four years, with the goal to get them in the habit regular contributions, the foundation said.
A total of 274,548 people joined the program, but only 5,692 people have completed the goal of donating 10 times in four years, it said.
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