UAE reaching close to 100% voluntary blood donation

BLOOD CAMPAIGN: About 317 nation-wide blood donation campaigns were organised last year. (Getty Images)

The UAE will join the world family on June 14 to mark the World Blood Donor Day 2009, according to a report.

The UAE will be a part of the global theme: ‘Achieving 100 per cent non-remunerated donation of blood and blood components’, newswire WAM reported.

Dr. Amin Al Amiri, Chairman of the National Committee for Blood Transfusion, said the UAE had made impressive strides in tackling the risk of contamination from unsafe blood by reaching close to 100% voluntary blood donation.

He said blood research and transfusion services in the UAE are among the best in the region using advanced laboratory and diagnostic technologies.

''Figures by the Ministry of Health's Department of Blood Transfusion and Research Services in Sharjah showed that collected blood units rose to 86,000 in 2008,''he said.

The state-of-the-art blood services in the UAE, he added, have earned the country international recognition, prompting the WHO to set up a regional centre for blood research and transfusion services in Sharjah.

Amiri thanked donors for their efforts in saving lives of patients in need of blood and added that the UAE nationals were taking the lead in donating their blood.

''The UAE blood donors took the lead among donors from over 86 nationalities accounting for 27 per cent of collected supply of blood in 2008,''he noted.

He added that about 317 nation-wide blood donation campaigns were organised last year, collecting 20,729 units, WAM reported.

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