Dubai Health Authority's Twitter clinic marks World Blood Donor Day.

•    Dubai Blood Donation Centre(DBDC) extends working hours during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
•    Encourages community members to donate during Ramadan.
•    Encourages community members to think of donating blood products like platelets and not just whole blood.
•    Requests rare and negative blood group individuals to register with the Centre.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 11, 2015: The Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA’s)  twitter clinic known as #smart_clinic encouraged people to donate ahead of World Blood Donor Day which falls on the 14th of June.

This year WHO is observing a theme for the day titled ‘Thank you for saving my life’, to express gratitude to all the people who save lives by donating blood and blood products.  

Ranjita Sharma, head of medical care unit and specialist registrar at the Dubai Blood Donation Centre said that the Dubai Blood Donation Centre(DBDC) will have additional working hours during the holy month of Ramadan. The centre will remain open from 9am to 2pm and from 8pm to 1am for those who plan to donate blood after iftar.

Dr Ranjita reaffirmed that individuals observing a fast can  donate blood after iftar during the holy month of Ramadan. “People who are fasting can donate blood once they have broken their fast and replenished their bodies with water and food.”
She said while Dubai is meeting the demand for blood, the Centre strongly encourages blood and blood product donation during the summer months because a lot of people leave the country for holidays.  “In the summer months we encourage people to directly visit the centre and donate blood, additionally, we would also like to request people to put their names in our database,  so that we can contact them according to the demand and supply.”
In Dubai, the DHA-run Dubai Blood Donation Centre(DBDC) supplies blood to all government and some private hospitals in Dubai and the northern emirates. Of the total blood requirements in the UAE, 50 per cent is collected by DBDC.

Every blood donation can potentially save up to three lives and blood and blood products are needed for trauma patients,  women who experience severe bleeding after a C-section delivery, during cardiac and other surgeries. Regular blood and platelet transfusions are needed for thalassaemia patients and those with other blood disorders and for cancer patients who need blood transfusion during and after chemotherapy.

Dr Ranjita encouraged the public to not only donate blood but also blood products. She said: “Regular blood donation takes 15 minutes, while platelet collection takes 45 minutes to one hour. Platelets are needed for a variety of medical reasons including managing post C-section bleeding, for  all kinds of cancer cases etc.”

She explained: “It is important to understand that blood expires every 42 days; platelets (which are needed mainly for cancer patients and those experiencing bleeding due an accident or surgical procedure) expire in just five days. Therefore, we prefer to have regular donors who register with us and who can be contacted depending on the need of the Centre. Of course a certain amount of all blood and platelets are stored but we cannot overstock a product with such a short shelf life.”
Having a database of donors is particularly important for rare blood groups such as O-ve, said Dr Ranjita. “A person with this blood group can supply blood to all blood groups but an individual with this blood group can only receive O-ve blood.”

She added that Thalassemia patients, as young as six months, need blood every three to four weeks for survival and this adds to the demand for blood.

Dr Ranjita said: “You can donate blood every eight weeks, and platelets up to 24 times a year. With each blood donation you can potentially save up to three lives. “

The centre has a dedicated phone line ( 04-2193769) for donors interested in platelet donation.

Zainab Ali, assistant administration officer at the Dubai Blood Donation Centre, encouraged organizations to hold mobile blood donation campaigns. She said: “ We understand the people do not always find the time to come to the Centre and therefore we regularly reach out to them through the mobile blood donation bus, which is fully-equipped and has state-of-the-art facilities for blood collection. At a time, we can collect blood from 200 donors and our message to organizations is to try and organize such blood collection drives at their premises which will directly help in saving lives of community members.”

In 2014, the DBDC carried out 587 blood donation campaigns, of which 227 were outdoor campaigns, another 227 were mobile campaigns and 133 campaigns were conducted in the premises of the DBDC

The DHA blood donation centre is located in the premises of Latifa Hospital and individuals interested in donating blood may contact the centre at 04 2193221 04-2193786/ or alternately they may contact the DHA toll free number 800 342.

Distribution of whole blood units collected in 2014:

Total units of blood collected : 44,350 units

Distribution:

•    Thalassemia Centre- 41 per cent. ( 14,752 units)
•    Trauma and accident cases 20 per cent ( 7123 units )
•    Dubai Hospital( mainly cancer cases) 19 per cent ( 6757 units)
•    Private hospitals 11 per cent ( 4285 units)
•    Latifa Hospital- maternity and pediatric cases 6 per cent( 2316 units)
•    Hatta - 3 per cent (958 units)

Total number of platelets collected in 2014 is 4483 units.