The spokesman for the Blood Transfusion Organization Bashir Haji Beygi told IRNA on Friday that the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has the highest rate of blood donors among Eastern Mediterranean countries. More than 2.5 million people come to blood transfusion centers in Iran per year and 2.1 million out of the people succeed to donate their blood, he added.
The rate of blood donation in Iran is one and a half times higher than other nations with middle to high blood donation rates, he said, noting that the Islamic nation stands at the top of regional states in terms of blood health.
According to the WHO, countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region consist of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.
Haji Beygi underlined that Iran was the first country in the region, which reach the level of 100 percent voluntary blood donation in 2007, and that the blood donation rate in the country continues to be voluntary.
Pregnant women, newborn babies, cancer patients, and some other people are in dire need of receiving blood, he noted.
The spokesman also referred to the negative impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic on the blood donation rate in Iran, saying that the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO) experienced eight percent decline in a blood bank last year, while the World Health Organization predicted 20 to 30 percent decrease of blood reservoirs in other countries.
The blood transfusion centers of the IBTO are not in the range of other health and clinical hubs; therefore, there is no need to be afraid of being infected by COVID-19 disease at the centers, he argued.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, over 15,000 treated patients donated their plasma, and 11,000 units out of them have been delivered to hospitals and other health centers to treat COVID-infected patients, he said.
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