To mark World Blood Donor Day (June 14), which this year has as its motto "Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often", Maria Antónia Escoval highlighted the objectives of this date established by the World Health Organization in May 2005 and honouring the birth of Karl Landsteiner.

This American doctor and biologist, of Austrian origin, was a precursor of blood transfusion and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1930, for his classification of blood groups, ABO system, and for discovering the RH factor.

"The main objective of this day is, on the one hand, to recognize blood donors and, on the other hand, to raise public awareness of the importance of regular [donation] of blood and the needs of the population, both in Portugal and in other countries", the president of the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) told the Lusa agency.

Asked if the blood reserves are stable, since the summer is a critical period in terms of donations, Maria Antónia Escoval said that, at the moment, the situation is stable, but defended that more donors are needed, who must be between 18 and 65 years old and weigh 50 or more kilos.

"We need more donors and more donations every day, because what happened to us, namely in 2022, was that we had more donors, but these donors gave less often and, therefore, we need the donor to be loyal and regularly make the gift".

The official stressed that to ensure the sustainability of the transfusion, the most important thing is a regular and continuous donation to avoid seasonality in blood donation

Challenges

Bearing in mind that blood has a shelf life of 42 days for lymphocyte concentrates and 5 to 7 days for platelets, with men only allowed to give blood every three months and women every four months, Maria António Escoval underlined that "every day is a challenge".

The Portuguese Federation of Benevolent Blood Donors asked on Friday that blood donors are again entitled to work leave on the day of the donation, a possibility that was withdrawn in 2011 and never returned.

Commenting on this request, Maria Antónia Escoval stated that, in Portugal, the donation "is voluntary anonymous and unpaid".

"With regard to any incentive, what we think is that there must be financial neutrality. That is, the donor cannot lose by donating blood, but neither can he gain by donating blood. These are our principles and within a very short time we will have the European regulation that is currently under discussion", which also analyses the issue of incentives and remuneration for blood donation and which will be implemented automatically in all member states.

To find out where you can donate blood click here.