On Monday, the health minister said Portugal “has an adequate supply” of blood, but on the day he called for regular donations, he acknowledged strikes in February and March may have prevented donors from accessing.
“All difficulties add up to the difficulties of everyday life that everyone has. We can imagine that, for example, in February and March, transport strikes could make work difficult, but all this will be quickly overcome because the Portuguese are very supportive,” said Manuel Pizarro.
In Porto, where he started the day by donating blood in a mobile unit of the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) installed in the gardens of the Palacio de Cristal, the Minister of Health ensured that “despite a certain reduction in donation”, Portugal has “for now moment adequate reserve”.
“There is no question of security, but it is a dynamic reality. Every day needs are added, and we must be very careful that there are no difficulties. In this case, difficulties mean the possibility that a person will survive or not survive, ”he stressed.
In an interview with Jornal de Notícias, IPST President Maria Antonia Escoval said that after an “amazing” January, February and March were “very weak” months for blood collection, attributing the difficulties to “traffic strikes and some social upheaval”.
On National Blood Donor Day, Manuel Pizarro declined to comment on other current issues in order to “focus the message on the call for donations”, stressing that he doesn’t care about the blood supply because he knows “the Portuguese are very generous”.
“We have over 245,000 regular blood donors. In 2022, 32,000 Portuguese have joined this large group of people donating blood, but the truth is that our needs are growing because medicine is evolving and becoming more complex. More organ transplants, more complex surgeries and the need is growing,” he said, reinforcing the call.
“It doesn’t cost anything,” he stressed.
Asked about calls by some institutions for donors to stick to donating specific blood components, such as platelets, in addition to traditional blood donation, Manuel Pizarro said institutions can educate donors because “collection can be optimized.”
“Institutions can inform donors on a case-by-case basis about the possibility of choosing a proposal. Most collections are whole blood samples, after which separation into various components is carried out. in the laboratory, but we managed to optimize this collection, if right at the harvest we make a separate collection of some components,” he said.
Promising that “the system will continue to improve”, the Minister of Health also recalled that it is necessary “to wait for the new EU regulation on the collection and transplantation of blood and organs.”
“We hope that this regulation will create mechanisms to facilitate the assembly of components separately,” he concluded.
National Blood Donor Day, celebrated this Monday, celebrates donors who fulfill their civic duty with a simple and altruistic gesture that can save lives.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.