Donation of emergency blood (this is not only the summer)



[ad_1]

The summer is a critical moment for donations of blood that often go into emergency. This is evidenced by the awareness campaigns of the Ministry of Health, the Blood Collection Agencies which, every year, are activated at the local or regional level, as well as the sms that the donors receive on their device which invite them to make a donation . A call that echoes from north to south of the country. Maybe it was just a temporary crisis, a demand limited to three months of the year. Unfortunately, this is not the case: data from the CNS, National Blood Center, after the virtuous 2012, in which the largest number of volunteer donors was recorded, show a growing need for blood. Hence the need to adopt safety measures and educate about blood donation, so that the problem has an effective response.

Donations decrease. Also in Italy. 8 thousand fewer units in 2017, compared to just one year ago. A little more than a million and 680,000 donors, including 304,000 new and more than three million donations, 30,000 less than in 2016. These are the figures recently released by the CNS, which strongly decreased since 2012, and continues to decline until now. According to experts, one of the reasons for this phenomenon is the small donation culture, especially among young people: according to statistics, the largest number of donors is concentrated in the middle age group, between 46 and 55, of which 31 women represent 29% of the total donors, followed by men and women between 36 and 45 years old with a percentage equal to 26% of the total, close the list of young people between 18 and 25 who reach a quota only 13%.

Embed in Getty Images

Italy is self-sufficient. We remain afloat, able to cover the need for blood that requires the territory, thanks to the compensation and support policies put in place between the Regions, so as to ensure the possibility of a transfusion every 10 seconds. Because this offer and this guarantee, especially in the most critical periods like the summer months or peak or even the first months of the year, can continue over time, the Regions should try to contribute as much as possible to the compensation system. Indeed, this allows to feed and organize in the most effective and efficient way the regional network of transfusion medicine always equipped with a sufficient collection and availability of blood and plasma. By paying particular attention to the latter, of which Italy is not self-sufficient, the two bodies call for an effort of community organization, regional institutions, to respond in an equally effective manner to the needs of this strategic resource. blood

The measures taken. A lifeline, as if to ensure the necessary need for Italian blood, is the gift of apheresis. A special method of donation and blood collection, made possible by the introduction of high-tech instruments. The blood of the donor, thanks to an automatic device, is taken then selected in its various components, retaining those you need such as plasma, platelets, multicomponents, putting the rest in circulation in a continuous process, through a single venous access and using only disposable material. With this technique, in 2017, it has been possible to collect, for example, nearly 830 thousand kilos of plasma, useful in most cases for the preparation of vital drugs, with a 1.8% increase over 2016 and with the possibility of increasing the number of transfused patients, about 660,000, also increased by 3.7%. Then there is the Patient Blood Management, a new technique promoted in recent years by the Ministry of Health, which optimizes the use of blood units for the benefit of all patients who need it. .

Embed in Getty Images

What to do? First of all, young people, less generous, must be made aware of giving blood. So, to educate them about this solidarity action, the badociations and federations of blood donors, including Avis (Blood Volunteers Association), Fidas (Italian Federation of Blood Donors 'Associations), Fratres (National Association of Donors' Groups) Blood of the Misericordia of Italy)) and the Red Cross has organized an information campaign and education for young donations. This is to say on the Cns website, a dedicated page with video testimonials from patients and donors, specific initiatives and contributions from celebrities from the world of entertainment and sports, or using social networks, Facebook in particular. Actions that all have a common goal: to increase the number of spontaneous donors. Then, more and more donors are welcomed among foreigners, the group of people who is more than others for culture or as a phenomenon of social integration, is predisposed to donate. Finally, we must implement and combine the trinomial organizational network, technological innovation and awareness campaigns more effectively and efficiently, always focusing on young people. They are the resource on which to invest, especially in the south of Italy, also taking into account the continuous aging of the population

The novelty. To encourage donation, the Ministry of Health has included donors among those who are free of influenza vaccine, while the CNS has given all regions the option of not suspending donors from areas where the virus is present. West Nile is present. an exclusion event to donate, but to perform the first test to highlight its presence.

[ad_2]
Source link