THE NATIONAL Blood Trans-fusion Service (Blood Bank) is again asking the public to give blood so it will have adequate supplies to issue in the New Year.
Head of the Blood Bank, Dr. Lundie Richards said this week the bank does not currently have any blood in reserve having processed and distributed the 100 to 120 units it received after a special plea ahead of the Christmas holiday last weekend.
He said that they needed 150 to 250 units to go to New Year's Day and the day after New Year's Day and for the weekend following that.
"For Christmas, we only met our demands because people turned up. But we are still continuing today and so we need people to keep the momentum going," Dr. Richards said.
Dr. Richards said in the New Year, the Blood Bank will be strengthening its organisation and focusing more on targetted groups to improve the number of blood donors.
He said he hoped more funding will be pumped into the bank and that the blood transfusion service will benefit from more partnerships between the public and private sectors in 2004. He said people are sufficiently sensitised about the need to donate blood.
"The next level is to get rid of the negative vibe for example, fear of needles, fear of picking up some disease, which is absolutely impossible. I need the support of Government and others," he said yesterday.
Last week, the Blood Bank appealed for donors, lamenting that respiratory infections including those associated with the flu had taken a toll on the availablity of voluntary blood donors.
He said then fresh blood products are important for providing blood transfusion services for hospital patients.
Blood donations can be made at the Blood Bank, 21 Slipe Pen Road, Kingston, Mondays to Thursdays between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Persons can also visit the National Chest Hospital on Barbican Road, Mondays to Thursdays from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., on Fridays up to 3:00 p.m. and on Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Donations can also be made at the University Hospital of the West Indies in St. Andrew, from Mondays to Fridays 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Persons in other parts of the island should visit blood collection centres at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Montego Bay, St. James, as well as other regional hospitals in St. Ann's Bay, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland; Port Antonio, Portland; Spanish Town, St. Catherine and May Pen, Clarendon.
