The months of January and February are, usually, "more sparse in donors" and, therefore, the Portuguese Institute of Oncology (IPO) of Porto appealed, recently, blood donations, especially among young people. In addition to this alert, there is also an appeal for the need to raise platelet donors
"It is very important to keep our regular donors of all ages, but it is important to renew the group of regular donors, that's why we want to appeal to young people", said Luísa Lopes dos Santos, director of the immunohemotherapy service of the IPO of Porto, according to Jornal de Notícias.
According to her, there has not been, to date, any patient who had "their procedure postponed for lack of product". But, recognizes, however, that this is a necessity, especially with regard to negative blood groups.
In the Porto IPO, the age group between 18 and 24 is the one that has the least record of blood donations, while the 25 to 44 age group is the one that seems to give the most blood, followed by the 45 to 65 age group.
Regarding the appeal for platelet donation, the responsible person explained that patients in the hospital unit "consume a lot of platelets". "We are very interested that young people are specific donors of platelets (...) And if it is a specific donor of platelets - which is a donation connected to a specific machine - a donation allows transfusion of an adult or even two or three children", she pointed out.
It should be noted that the procedure for platelet donation is the same as for blood donation. This can be done Monday through Friday and on Saturdays at the Porto IPO, respectively, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon.
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