Totally safe to donate blood during pandemic, National Blood Centre assures public

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Blood Centre (PDN) is appealing for blood donations from members of the public, especially those with blood type B to increase stock.

PDN director Dr Noryati Abu Amin said type B stock was declining due to public concerns following the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.

"People are encouraged to continue to donate blood regularly and to stop looking at the increase in COVID-19 cases as a reason not to do so.

“This is very important so as to meet the daily blood supply needs, including for group B in which existing stocks have slightly depleted," she told Bernama yesterday.

She said those who intend to donate blood need not worry as standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the Health Ministry are strictly adhered to at the centre.

Dr Noryati said the centre would ensure the blood donation process was safe.

“Even before the (COVID-19) outbreak, we already had strict SOPs before allowing any individual to donate blood.

“We will make sure that donors are 100 per cent healthy and we have used that approach until now, so if there are unhealthy individuals with, for example, fever, we will not allow them to donate blood," she said.

She said people also do not have to worry as individuals are not at risk of contracting COVID-19 through blood transfusions.

Dr Noryati said to date, PDN has about 2,000 blood bags, of which 600 bags were distributed daily to meet the needs of all hospitals in the Klang Valley.

“For now, there is sufficient supply but we are concerned that if people are afraid to donate blood due to COVID-19, supply could reach a critical level,” she added.

-- BERNAMA