The French Blood Establishment warns of the drop in reserves and invites the French to donate their blood as the holidays approach.
A good deed as Christmas approaches? As the end-of-year celebrations loom, and supplies dwindle, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) is calling on all French people to donate their blood, in one of the 128 collection centers of the territory.
“Blood supplies have been falling for ten days and are now too fragile to approach the start of the new year safely,” explains the EFS in its press release. It is therefore urgent to mobilize, for a collection which generally lasts less than an hour.
Unlike other countries, such as the United States, blood donation in France is based on the principle of volunteerism, like all organ donations. An ethical imperative, voluntary and free donation is also a form of health security: in countries that practice paid donation, it happens that some donors, motivated by the lure of profit, lie during the interview prior to collection.
One week reserve
On the downside, the EFS is often confronted with a risk of shortage, and must sound the alarm bell at regular intervals. This is particularly the case during the summer, when people go on vacation, and at the approach of the end-of-year celebrations, because of departures and climatic conditions which complicate sampling.
Approximately one million patients benefit from a blood transfusion each year. But blood products have a limited lifespan: 5 days for platelets, 42 days for red blood cells. To meet the country’s transfusion needs, an average of 10,000 donations are therefore needed per day. However, specifies the EFS, “there are only 78,000 blood bags in stock”. The equivalent of one week of reserve.
“By offering 45 minutes of their time, of which only ten for the collection, blood donors are making a useful and generous gesture”, recalls the EFS, which invites all volunteers to participate in the collection. Like an early Christmas present.
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