June 14th is World Blood Donor Day, an opportunity not to be missed to remember the importance of donating blood and symbolically thank those who choose to be donors. Donating blood is an act of pure solidarity. A voluntary, anonymous and safe gesture that allows all people who need it to access transfusion therapies. It means offering something indispensable and vital to someone who is in a fragile situation at that moment, without receiving something in return.
ALMOST 3000 PATIENTS TRANSFUSED IN ONE YEAR
As he explains Massimiliano Viti (Director of the Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine Service): «Cremona is a territory of generous donors. Last year’s data speak clearly: donations of whole blood and plasma from apheresis, collected in the territory of ASST Cremonahave been in total 25,514. The number of donors with at least one active donation is 10,049, for one donation index equal to 2.46, the highest in the Lombardy Region.
Thanks to the sensitivity of citizens and the work of the Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine Service team, in 2023, 2,922 patients were transfused with red blood cells in the hospitals of Cremona and Oglio Po and 5,594 units of blood cells were donated to other territories, including those outside the Region. red.”
LIFE-SAVING DRUGS FROM PLASMA: INCREASING DEMAND
«The donation of whole blood lasts about 10 minutes, 450 ml of blood are taken, from which concentrated red cells, platelets and plasma are obtained – adds Viti. Plasma donation, on the other hand, lasts about 50 minutes and consists of the collection of whole blood, which is separated with special equipment; the corpuscular part (red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets) is reinfused into the donor and 680 ml of plasma is collected, replenished with physiological solution. From the collected plasma, drugs such as albumin, antithrombin, coagulation factors and immunoglobulins are obtained, defined as “life-saving” drugs, used both in emergency situations and for chronic therapies. While in recent years, at a national level, we have witnessed self-sufficiency for whole blood donation, the demand for plasma-derived drugs is continuously and constantly increasing. Preliminary data from the National Blood Center, in fact, report an autonomy of 62% for immunoglobulins and 78% for albumin. This despite the fact that plasma collection in 2023 reached the highest values ever. Hence the invitation to donors to consider this type of donation.”
HOW TO BECOME A DONOR
In Italy, donation is free, voluntary, anonymous, informed and responsible.
Anyone who intends to become a whole blood and plasma donor can contact the nearest AVIS Municipal office which will schedule all the necessary tests to establish the suitability of the donor. In the province of Cremona there are 52 municipal AVIS offices, located throughout the territory.
A citizen can become a new donor:
– aged between 18 and 60;
– with body weight exceeding 50 kilos;
– who at the medical examination is in good health and has not had any serious illnesses previously.
DONOR SAFETY AND RECIPIENT PROTECTION
In addition to being a gesture of great altruism, donation is also a healthcare act subject to precise regulations for the protection of the health of the donor and the safety of the recipient. For this reason there are essential tests required of the aspiring donor:
– laboratory tests
– electrocardiogram
On the basis of all these elements and in compliance with precise legal provisions, suitability for donation is established. Any time is a good time to donate whole blood and plasma. Especially in summer, historically the period in which there is physiological deficiency. Accepting the invitation to donate even in the summer months is important. It is very useful to communicate your inability to donate on the date identified by the relevant Municipal AVIS, so as to be able to find an alternative day suited to everyone’s needs.
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