67% of blood donors are patients' relatives

Today 67 percent of blood donors are people who donate blood for their relatives and friends, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing Gulsagira Sarsembina, president of the Donors Association of Kazakhstan. She said that government policy and support is needed to popularize blood donating. Kazakhstan Donor Association representatives visit different organizations and call people to donate blood on a voluntary basis, Sarsembina said. The campaigning help substantially replenish the blood bank. “We visit different organizations and call people to donate blood. When we talk to people they realize the importance of donorship. The problem is that people are just unaware,” the president of Kazakhstan Donors Association added. A blood donation campaign is waged in Almaty from April 20 till May 20. Sarsembina said that most of the volunteers are students. However about 10-15% of people willing to donate blood are found ineligible to do so for various reasons. About 2 tons of blood plasma is stored at the Nation Blood Center. This is enough to save 5000 people in case of emergency, the Center's director Gulsara Bekmukhayeva told Tengrinews.kz. She said that an average of 70-80 people a day donate blood. However, negative Rhesus factor blood occurs less frequent than positive one and the blood bank is sometimes short of negative Rhesus factor blood. “I think that being a blood donor is the sacred duty of every citizen. We are trying to motivate young people to donate blood,” she said.