| The year of the Boar calls for more blood donors to come forward |
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| Community | |
| Thursday, 25 January 2007 | |
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As the celebrations for the Chinese New Year commence, the National Blood Service (NBS) is appealing to the Chinese community to become blood donors encouraging them to give the gift of life. Currently, very few people of Chinese origin give blood so the NBS 'Are you my type?' campaign is targeting potential donors to increase awareness. Statistics show that whilst only 5% of the eligible population in the UK currently give blood the vast majority of these volunteer blood donors are white.  Philip Chan - who is British born Chinese - works in the marketing department for the NBS and admits that he didn't know much about blood before he joined:"Before I started work here I really wasn't sure how people in hospitals got the blood they needed. In fact I was amazed to learn that 8,000 donations are collected by the NBS and used by the hospitals in England and North Wales every day. "Part of my job is to make sure people from all walks of life realise how important blood is. I've now become a regular donor and would encourage anyone who can donate to do it." There are four main blood groups and the NBS needs to collect enough blood from each to keep stocks healthy. The amount of people in the four main groups O, A, B and AB varies in populations throughout the world. In the UK, although not in every case, the rarer blood groups are often found in donors from certain ethnic backgrounds. For example, in the UK, over all just 10% of the population are B group. Yet in people from an Chinese background, 25% have this blood group and 10% of people from Chinese backgrounds have the rarest blood group of them all AB blood. By being a blood donor you could be saving someone's life. What better way to start the New Year than by bringing good health to someone else by signing up to give.  Philip understands that people might be nervous about donating for the first time but is an expert in allaying people fears:"Giving blood is really simply. When you get to the session you'll be asked a few questions to check that you are suitable to donate, then tested to make sure you're not anaemic. Only if you are okay well you be asked to donate, which should take between 5 and 10 minutes. Most people are in and out within an hour depending on how much of the tea and biscuits they want afterwards!" "I know that some people worry that giving blood will leave them feeling weak and will have a negative affect on their health. But as long as you eat and drink plenty before you give blood you should not experience any adverse affects you should feel fine the very next day, with the body making back up the red cells in around four weeks." "Our most dedicated donors come back to donate every sixteen weeks so you will be able to donate three times during the year of the boar." For further information on blood donation, to find your next local session, or to book an appointment, call the National Donor Helpline on 0845 7 711 711 (open 24hrs) or visit www.blood.co.uk. |
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