CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – Blood supply in the country was at a critical level since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year.
To boost the supply of blood products, the Philippine Blood Center (PBC), the government bloodbank of the Department of Health (DOH), and the DOH’s National Voluntary Blood Program (NVBP), through DOH-Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and DOH-MiMaRoPa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), conducted a joint blood drive in a mobile blood donation event held at the regional DOH-Calabarzon office in Project 4, Quezon City.
A total of 54 bags of blood were collected from 39 personnel from CALABARZON and 13 from MIMAROPA from nine (9) successful apheresis donations conducted (seven from CALABARZON, two from MIMAROPA).
The process of separating blood into different components were Platelets, Red Blood Cells (RBCs) and Plasma, which were obtained from the donors.
According to Maila Delgado, DOH-Calabarzon NVBP Regional Coordinator, individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 also necessitates a blood transfusion, and those who recover from the virus could potentially help those who are currently infected by donating their convalescent plasma.
“Although it is still under clinical trial, the ‘plasma-derived therapy’ or ‘convalescent plasma,’ is given to severe COVID-19 patients for ‘compassionate use,’” she added.
DOH Calabarzon Regional Director Eduardo Janairo said that, “We are encouraging the public to donate more blood through our mobile blood donation events. We need to have an adequate supply in all hospitals in the country especially now that we are still in a pandemic. And we can only ensure this with the support of our donors.”
DOH MIMAROPA Regional Director Mario Baquilod, for his part, said that voluntary donors are recognized to be the safest donors because they are motivated by selflessness and the desire to help others and by a sense of moral duty or social responsibility.
The joint blood drive activity was the first to be conducted this year.