2024-07-13 21:17:51
Over the last two decades and due to the constant work of the National Network of Blood Banks, technically led by the National Institute of Health, voluntary blood donation has increased in Colombia.
In 2004, voluntary donation accounted for 55.5%, a donation that was based on the motivation of the patients’ relatives, and which therefore amounted to 44.5% of the total number of donors who came to donate blood because their relative required it for their medical treatment.
In 2024, voluntary donation and the desire to give life to other human beings, regardless of race or region, represents 93.8% of total donations, with only 6.2% of donors motivated by a family member who requires this biological product. Colombia is one of the few countries in Latin America with a voluntary donation rate of over 90%, however, efforts must be increased to also increase regular voluntary donation, which before the pandemic represented almost 33% of total donations, and despite the efforts made by all blood banks, it did not manage to exceed 27% by 2023.
Giovanny Rubiano García, general director of the INS, said: “Voluntary and frequent donations for altruistic purposes, with the aim of saving a life or improving the lives of others, are what should motivate us to donate blood in Colombia. Thanks to the technical coordination of the national network of blood banks carried out by the INS, voluntary donations have shown growth in the last two years. We want to surpass one million donors in 2024, but we also want to continue promoting frequent donations, at least twice a year. Let us remember the importance of donating frequently and in order to save a life.”
“The figures confirm that voluntary donations account for almost 70% (they donate at least once) of all blood donations in the country, and that a third are frequent or habitual donors (they donate two or more times), but the percentages have significant room for growth. This year we want to go from 999,585 thousand donors to 1,035,000 donors. This is a goal that we can surpass,” concluded the INS general director.
“The commitment of the actors that make up the National Network of Blood Banks and Transfusion Services and the awareness that has been established among Colombians to be supportive with such a simple act as donating blood, has allowed us to achieve these positive results. Although we have not yet managed to reach the regular donation rate that we had as a country before the pandemic, the effort of the entire population is required to achieve the goal of increasing regular donation, motivated only by benefiting patients,” said María Isabel Bermúdez, INS expert in hemovigilance.
This year, the challenge is to surpass one million annual donations, meaning that the country hopes to maintain the motivation that allows it to have 5,200 potential donors every day. “They only have to go to one of the 83 Blood Banks in the country and express their desire to donate. It is a process that does not take much time out of their day,” says Bermúdez.
In Colombia, 5,200 donors are registered per day, of which 87% are accepted due to the safety and health requirements of both donors and recipients. By geographic distribution, it can be established that the department with the highest donation rate per thousand inhabitants between 18 and 65 years of age is Santander, followed by Atlántico, departments in which the rate of transfused patients per thousand inhabitants is the same.
The importance of continuing to increase voluntary blood donations is due to the fact that in our country, at least 1,100 people need to be transfused every day. It can be estimated that for every patient transfused, there are currently 2 donors to meet these needs. “It is important to emphasize the permanent need to have enough donors, since there are patients who require at least six transfusions every time they are treated by services such as renal units, transplants, cardiothoracic surgery or hematology. Our call is not only to seek to meet daily needs, but to aim to have enough inventory to deal with emergencies, catastrophes or urgent situations,” says Bermúdez.
On the other hand, and despite the fact that around 17% of patients are O negative, only 5.5% of donors are part of this blood group, so the INS calls on more Colombians with this blood type to approach the donation points since patients with this hemoclassification can only receive blood of this same type, in order to meet the needs of the patients in a timely manner and minimizing the risks for them.
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