THE Department of Health (DOH) called on the Filipino youth to donate their blood to help ensure a sustainable supply of blood products, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The call was made in celebration of the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), which carries the theme “Give Blood and Keep the World Beating.”
The WBDD 2021 highlights the contributions of blood donors by saving lives, and reinforces the global call for people to donate blood regularly. The campaign also focuses on the youth’s role in ensuring safe blood supply as they form a large sector in many societies.
In 2020, the total blood collection in the Philippines decreased by 22.8 percent compared to the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the need for blood and blood products by patients remained the same.
The DOH, through the National Voluntary Blood Services Program (NVBSP), has continuously ensured the supply of blood and blood products in the country through issuance of blood donors pass in areas with community quarantines, provision of free shuttle services to and from the blood service facilities, and Mobile Blood Donation (MBD) drives.
The NVBSP also held a virtual walkathon where the target of one million steps, which represents the 1 percent of total blood collection for the country, was collected through a mobile phone application from June 1-14. The virtual walkathon activity served as a physical activity for the youth to encourage a healthy lifestyle and to voluntarily donate blood.
Moreover, the DOH urged the public to continuously practice the minimum public health standards and get vaccinated, when it’s their turn, to curb the transmission of COVID-19.