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“In summer there are still patients admitted and regardless of whether we are on vacation or not, If someone needs an intervention, it will be carried outThis is the message that Gracia García, head of the Transfusion, Tissue and Cell Centre (CTTC) is sending to all Malaga residents and tourists who are on the Costa del Sol these days to visit the collection points that they organise practically every day to donate blood.
This situation is repeated every summer, according to García. During the holiday periods, donations decrease and little by little the reserves begin to dwindle. For this reason, the health professional stresses that it is important for society to continue to be interested in donating because “We have a buffer that we need and if there is an emergency situation, we will reduce it.”.
In this sense, he points out that the drop in donations is occurring across the board throughout Andalusia, since “everyone goes on vacation and They do not prioritize donations“However, the decline is more pronounced in some provinces than in others, which means that “they have a larger surplus in relation to what they need and they are passing it on to us.”
In Malaga to “be able to serve the population and have a clear surplus” about 250 donations are needed daily. Currently, an average of 165 bags are collected, but depending on where the collections are located, the number can reach up to 200.
“We have to be responsible and know that this cushion has to exist to deal with any eventuality that could occur,” says García, who also adds that A donor can be between 45 minutes and just over an hour at the donation point to donate the 450 milliliters needed to fill a bag.
As for the areas, it is true that the coast is where the population increases the most, so the need for having surplus blood is greater, since in the rest of the province the demand does not vary. García also points out that, although the demand could vary according to the area, They are moving throughout the province collecting blood and raising awareness among the population..
Their next collections will be carried out in Casares, Álora, Benaoján, Ronda, Alfarnate, El Burgo, Benalmádena, Alozaina, Estepona, Manilva, CampillosCala del Moral, Almayate and the capital.
At this point, it should be noted that at the beginning of the summer the Transfusion Center set the goal of reaching 10,000 donations and the person in charge of the center assures that “Right now we are very close to reaching the objectivebut we do not lose hope.”
In addition, he invites all Malaga residents to come and donate so that those 56,000 active donors that have been recorded in the last two years will grow and Malaga will have enough surplus to cover all the demand of the province.
Blood donation data for 2023 and 2024
Regarding donation data for the first half of this year, Malaga residents have made 23,424 donations. Of this total, 22,353 correspond to whole blood and 1,053 to selective donations of plasma and/or platelets.
During these six months, 2,796 new donors have been added, which represents 12.5% of the total number of donations.
In addition, the number of people who have offered to donate has reached the figure of 25,011 in Malaga. 93.6% have finally donated and 6.3% have had to be excluded for multiple reasons such as medication or incompatibility.
As for last year’s data, In 2023, 45,144 blood donations were obtainedOf the total number of donors, 5,958 were new, of which 2,726 were men and 3,232 were women.
Requirements for donating blood
The requirements to be able to donate blood are be between 18 and 65 years old and a weight equal to or greater than 50 kilograms, not suffer from chronic diseases or acute infections, not be anaemic and not engage in risky practices that facilitate the spread of diseases such as hepatitis, syphilis or AIDS. It is mandatory to bring your ID or a document that accredits you and it is advisable not to go on an empty stomach.
It is worth remembering that before the extraction, the donor undergoes an interview and medical examination. Men can donate blood up to four times a year and women three times a year.with a minimum interval of two months between donations. Specific plasma donors can come every 15 days. It is essential to refrain from doing sports 2 hours before donating and 24 hours after donating.
