Canadian Blood Services (CBS) says the rapid growth in the demand for blood products could cause the national supply to dwindle.
Raj Damhar, the community development manager for CBS, says only about 80 per cent of the available appointments are booked each week, leaving the national supply at risk of falling short as the summer rolls on and the supply dwindles.
“We just want to remind people that it only takes an hour of your time to come out and donate blood, and it’s the idea that if people are too busy to donate, who’s donating and who is helping the people that are sick in hospitals across Canada,” says Damhar.
Officials say many people with various health conditions require regular transfusion therapy.
For example, a person living with thalassemia could need blood every two to five weeks, and a person living with leukemia may need blood from up to eight donors every week.
Approximately 4,500 appointments are going unfilled every week, and because of the growing need for blood products, more than 146,000 appointments across the country must be filled before the September long weekend.
To keep pace with the growing demand, new donors of all blood types are needed, but CBS wants people with Type O blood to donate as soon as possible since donated blood expires after 42 days.
Damhar says recent changes to donation criteria mean some people who weren’t able to donate in the past, such as diabetics or breast cancer survivors, may be able to now.
More details about how to donate can be found by clicking here.
