Moroccans must continue to donate blood to reach the minimum donor rate of 1% recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the National Center for Blood Transfusion and Hematology (CNTSH), Morocco needs 1,000 donations per day to ensure self-sufficiency.
On the occasion of World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on June 14, the CNTSH recalled that Morocco needed 1,000 blood donors every day to cover the needs for labile blood products (LBP).
In 2022, at the national level, the total number of blood donations reached the figure of 339,579, an increase of 6% compared to the year 2021. But Morocco is still far from the minimum recommendations of the WHO which stipulate that at least 1% of the population must donate blood.
The current average in the Kingdom does not reach this symbolic bar of 1% and remains nestled at 0.92%.
“This situation requires permanent encouragement of blood donation and the massive and collective participation of the population and national partners in collaboration with the transfusion centers to be able to ensure the permanent availability of LBP and the sustainability of the donation system”says the National Center for Blood Transfusion and Hematology.
For this, the CNTSH is deploying a new strategy aimed at multiplying blood collection sites in order to bring the blood donation service closer to citizens and encourage them at the same time.
Two collection sites were thus inaugurated in March 2023, in particular at the donation center within the Moulay Youssef hospital center in Rabat and at Bab Lamrissa in Salé, which is part of the public-private partnership.
The opening of the two sites as well as the partnership with the Mohammed VI foundation of religious officials and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowments and civil society associations have made it possible to achieve a 9% increase in total blood donations from Ramadan month in 2023 compared to the year 2022, indicates the CNTSH.
The same source says the Center is committed “not only in the policy of increasing the number of donors but also in that of improving the quality and safety of blood derivatives”.
For this, an ISO 9001 version 2015 certification project for the CNTSH and the CRTS of Oujda and Marrakech is underway, in addition to the other centers that have already been certified. These are the CRTS of Rabat in 2015 and 2022 and the CRTS of Fez and CRTS of Tetouan in 2022.
On the occasion of June 14, the CNTSH takes the opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation to save lives.
This day is not only to encourage healthy people to donate blood regularly to improve the quality of life of patients dependent on transfusion, but also to honor and thank people who donate blood.