ILOILO City – Blood supply at the Western Visayas Regional Blood Center here is adequate, according to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Iloilo Chapter.
Iloilo (city and province) even topped other areas in blood unit collection in the Philippines for 2021 to 2022, according to Dr. Carlo Nolan Carado, manager of the Western Visayas Regional Blood Center.
Today, June 14, is World Blood Donor Day 2023 and next month, July, will be Blood Donors’ Month; the theme is “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”
From 2021 to 2022, the regional blood center collected 27,010 blood units, higher than the 2021-2020 collection of 25,000 blood units.
“Nag-increase kita subong nga 2022 compared sa previous year,” said Carado in an interview with Panay News yesterday morning.
The annual collection target of PRC-Iloilo is 25,000 blood units or one percent of the total population of Iloilo.
Every blood unit contains 450 milliliters of blood from a donor.
The top performing local government units (LGUs) in blood collection for 2021-2022 were Passi City, Tubungan, Barotac Viejo, San Enrique, and Pavia.
Factor for more sufficient blood supply
Carado cited the help of LGUs, partner organizations, and the continuous blood donation activities being conducted.
The PRC-Iloilo visits municipalities and barangays to conduct information and education campaign on the importance of blood donation.
PRC-Iloilo’s blood collection area on Bonifacio Drive, City Proper is open to blood donors from Monday to Sunday.
Despite exceeding the target, Carado said they will continue blood-letting activities since they, at times, augment the supply of other blood centers in Region 6.
How important is blood?
Sufficient blood supply saves lives, said Carado.
“Nag-less ang number of deaths due to loss of blood naton,” he said.
On a daily average, around 50 people request blood at the regional blood center in PRC-Iloilo.
Most cases requested were for dengue patients, obstetrician-gynecologist patients, and patients who would undergo an operation procedure.
Caradao clarified that blood is free at the regional blood center as long as there is a request from the hospital where the patient is admitted.
There is only a processing fee, which depends on the requested blood component, such as whole blood at P1,800 and platelet plasma at P1,000.
And if the PRC-Iloilo observes that the blood supply in the regional blood center is low, they request that the folks of the patient asking for blood bring one or two blood donors to replenish the supply.
“Ang dal-on diri sa amon opisina is blood request nga gin-issue sang hospital. Kon may ara kita sufficient nga dugo gina-provide-dan naton sila. Pero kon naganubo ang stock sang dugo naga-muno kami sa ila nga magadala sang ila blood donors,” explained Carado.
The regional blood center caters to 25 hospitals in Iloilo.
Aside from PRC-Iloilo, the only Department of Health-accredited blood collection facilities in Iloilo are Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district and St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo in General Luna St., City Proper.
These two health facilities are allowed to collect blood from blood donors and store it in their blood banks./PN
