Turkish Red Crescent Calls For More Blood Donations

Turkish Red Crescent Chairperson Kerem Kınık on Sunday noted that blood stocks in the country have fallen below the minimum level of 50,000 to only 35,000 units.

Kınık shared the information on how blood stocks are managed, how the pandemic affected supply and noted that he hopes ''that every healthy and responsible individual will adopt blood donation as a habit.''

He added; ''We need to continue the blood donation process seven days a week, 24 hours per day.

"When we fall below the 50,000 minimum stock level, we issue an 'alarm.'

"Because this is Türkiye's national bloodstock, we manage these stocks with the voluntary support of our citizens; we fill them with their help and thus meet their blood needs."

He also reiterated that the National Blood Donation Campaign was launched due to a decrease in blood stocks to replenish blood reserves after supplies dropped to critical levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, the organisation faced a similar situation due to the ongoing flu season throughout the country.

"This is usually a situation we experience in the winter; stocks tend to fall.

"But this year, similarly as during COVID-19, the flu epidemic diffused throughout the country. This harms the blood reserves."