Acute blood shortage in Pangasinan bared
LINGAYEN—The Pangasinan chapter of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has sounded the alarm over the current shortage of blood in their center due to increasing demand from patients confined in various hospitals.
Florame Magalong, PRC chapter administrator, revealed that they were not able to serve 50 patients for lack of supply in the past two weeks.
“This is very alarming and poses a danger to our province because of its big population, many of whom may be needing blood at any time,” Magalong said.
“This is not only a problem of the PRC but also the entire province as well because patients needing blood would have nowhere to get blood in order to save themselves,” she added.
Magalong also said that the Pangasinan PRC is now also serving part of the demand from Zambales.
BLOODLETTING PROGRAM
As this developed, the provincial government together with the Liga ng mga Barangay, launched last Thursday the bloodletting program ‘One Blood, One Pangasinan’ at the Pangasinan Training and Development Center.
“This is a big help for us to arrest the current deficit in blood in our center,” Magalong said.
Magalong stressed the need for more blood donors in Pangasinan in order to sustain the minimum supply of 119 units daily needed at the local PRC.
She called on more blood donors daily as she stressed donors can establish a blood donation cycle, pointing out that an average person can donate blood every three months.
She said there is also a need to develop a database and for a regular program on blood typing in the province to facilitate identification of potential blood donors.
Liga ng mga Barangay president Amadeo Espino pledged that per their Memorandum of Agreement with PRC, the group will hold a ‘One Blood, One Pangasinan’ activity twice a year.
Espino also urged the Liga’s municipal and city chapters to do a similar activity twice a year.
He said an information campaign to educate people on the benefits of donating blood will go a long way for the advocacy.
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