<B>Last week the National Blood Transfusion Service issued a communiqué to call on people to donate their blood, because there was a shortage of 0- blood. How come? </B>

It is a very rare blood group. Only 4% of the population have a negative rhesus. And we usually do not need it. Last week, three or four patients needed 0- blood. And we did not have this blood group in stock. Thanks to the communiqué and the media that spread the information, people have donated their blood. We could make transfusions to the ones waiting and now we have a stock of the 0- group.

<B>Do such “shortages” happen regularly?</B>

Shortages can happen in any blood bank in the world, because the stock depends on people’s donations. And every time someone needs a transfusion, after an accident or a complication of pregnancy, for example, we need a lot of blood. Sometimes we need 10 to 15 pints of blood for one person. Currently in Mauritius, there is a growing need for blood, because all the hospitals and private clinics have acquired dialysis facilities. And dialysis, which is done on a daily basis, requires a lot blood.

<B> What do you highlight, in your donation campaign, to convince people to give their blood?</B>

Some people are afraid for their health. So we insist on the fact that it is totally safe to donate blood. Considering the quantity of blood in the human body, men can give their blood every 3 months and women every 4 months. Our equipment is fully sterile and there is absolutely no way of contracting any infection through a blood transfusion.

Then some people just do not think of donating blood. So we remind them that it is an easy gesture that can save a life. They can go to any public hospital, between 9 am and 3.30 pm on weekdays and between 9 am and 12 am on Saturdays and it does not take long. But the message is always better heard when it is carried by the media. We have a list of donors and last week we contacted many of them who are of the 0- group. But they reacted more quickly when they heard our call on the radio.