The National Blood Bank (NBB) now has 150 regular donors helping save people’s lives, most of which are women.
NBB head Arcenio Jose Afonso said it had 200 registered volunteers and so far 150 were donating every three months.
“In Timor-Leste, the blood donors are mostly the family rather than other people because many people still think that they will only give blood when their family is in need otherwise they don’t do it,” he said in his office in Bidau, Dili.
He said 60% of blood stocks were collection from family members, with 40% coming from volunteer donors.
He therefore encouraged the wider community to give blood regularly as it could help save people’s lives.
He also acknowledged that an awareness raising campaign to promote blood donation had not been successful so far due to the lack of human resources dedicated to the initiative.
“We actually have 12 staff, two of them are studying in Indonesia and now we only have 10 staff,” he said.
As well as lacking human resources, he said the NBB also lacks transportation for mobile donations and the capacity to distribute blood to referral hospitals in the districts, he said.
Regarding distribution, he said that ambulances coming to Dili to transfer a patient could also transport blood. Another option was that family members could deliver blood themselves to patients in the districts.
He said blood transfusion were performed according to the policies of the World Health Organization (WHO) and blood was examined first to ensure that it was free from infectious diseases such as hepatitis, syphilis and HIV.
Dili resident Agustu Soares said that many Timorese people, especially youth, were capable of giving blood every month, but the problem was that the collection method was not well organized.
“We should have clear data on regular donors and involve them in education and campaign activities because they can set an example for blood transfusions,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of educating the community, especially young people, about the benefits of regular blood donation.
