According to the World Health Organization, 118.5 million blood donations take place in the world each year . 40% takes place in the most developed countries, where only 16% of the planet’s population lives.
It is not surprising that, as the experts of this body denounce, there are many people who cannot access the safe transfusions they need in time, especially in the most disadvantaged regions , as can be deduced from the WHO’s own data: the Blood donation rate per thousand people is 31.5 donations in high per capita income countries, 15.9 in upper middle income countries, 6.8 in lower middle income countries and 5 in low income countries .
Each State should ensure that its blood supply is sufficient and that it is not contaminated by viruses such as HIV, hepatitis or other communicable infections , something that is not always possible due to the scarcity of means or the lack of awareness or training. the citizens. Donations are essential in many cases: they are needed by women with obstetric complications – ectopic pregnancies, hemorrhages … -, children with anemia, severely injured, those who undergo complex surgical interventions, elderly people (in rich countries, elderly patients sixty-year-olds receive up to 75% of all transfusions). And they must be regular, because blood can only be kept for a limited time.
In the first world, transfusions are used primarily in cardiovascular surgeries, transplants, and the treatment of major trauma and solid malignant tumors. On the contrary, and again according to the WHO, in developing countries they are often used in pregnancy complications, trauma and infant malaria (in these States 54% of transfusions are for children under five years of age). Blood is also required to manufacture various medical products, for example clotting factors for hemophiliacs. The decision to donate can save a life, or even several if the blood is separated into components – red blood cells, platelets and plasma – that can be used in different patients with different diseases.
A fear that condemns lives
The coronavirus is damaging essential research for the future of many people. Antonio Pérez Martínez, head of the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Service at the La Paz University Hospital (Madrid), warns that there is misinformation on the part of the regulatory bodies regarding research. Fear of SARS-CoV-2 meant that at the beginning of the pandemic, research institutes were not allowed to work with the blood of patients infected by this microorganism.
However, “blood is the safest biological fluid for patients with covid-19,” points out this doctor, who argues that it is a mistake to equate this virus with HIV or hepatitis C. At the moment, only work is allowed with blood from these patients in level 3 biosafety laboratories, something that, he says, “is unnecessary in the case of covid-19.” In his opinion, in this matter fear and hysteria prevail over science.
By Carmen M. López.
