UAE | Health
'Dramatic' rise in demand for blood witnessed
A rise in injuries and operations caused the demand for blood to shoot up by 20 per cent across the country, said medical experts, who encouraged the public to come forward to give donations.
- By Aftab Kazmi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:06 May 27, 2008
Al Ain: A rise in injuries and operations caused the demand for blood to shoot up by 20 per cent across the country, said medical experts, who encouraged the public to come forward to give donations.
Describing the rise as dramatic, Tawam Hospital blood bank's administration said it had taken sufficient measures to meet the growing demand for blood. Demand across the UAE is predicted to escalate due to an increase in the number of trauma patients, cancer patients, more operations and techniques such as blood and plasma exchange, said Dr Sherief Islam, Medical Director of the Blood Centre at Tawam Hospital.
He said Tawam Hospital, was itself a top consumer of blood as it undertook a large number of operations and treated cancer and other conditions.
"In the first four months 2008, the demand for blood has shot up by almost 20 per cent compared to last year."
He said Tawam Hospital had the means to continue to manage the blood services in the Eastern region of Abu Dhabi emirate and caters to the needs of both government and private sector hospitals.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Michael E. Heindel, CEO of the Tawam Hospital, said: "We are pleased to announce the number of blood units donated at Tawam Blood Centre in 2007 is up by 31 per cent," he said.
The centre, which will shortly become the regional blood bank in the Eastern region, collected 8,055 units of blood in 2007 compared to 6,122 units in 2006.
"We are thankful to the thousands of people who donated blood in the past year," he said.
Hamad Al Mullah, Director of the Tawam Blood Centre, said the centre organised some 152 blood campaigns in 2006 and 190 in 2007.
"The number of campaigns will continue to grow this year."
In the first four months of 2008, the demand for blood has shot up by almost 20 per cent compared to last year."
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