"100,000 Decrease in Blood Donors Over 3 Years... Need to Minimize Discarded Blood"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Over the past three years, the number of blood donors has decreased by approximately 100,000, and the amount of blood discarded during the blood component separation and storage process has reached 110,000 units (unit: 300~500 ml).

According to the annual blood supply and demand data from 2017 to 2019 submitted by the Korean Red Cross to Shin Hyun-young, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of blood donors steadily declined each year: 2.71 million in 2017, 2.68 million in 2018, and 2.61 million in 2019.

Additionally, the total amount of discarded blood over the past three years was 115,895 units, with 40,267 units discarded in 2019, an increase of 2,601 units compared to the previous year. Blood discarded due to coagulation and contamination was 184 units, a 35% increase from the previous year, and blood discarded due to expiration of the preservation period was 735 units in 2019, a 28% increase compared to the previous year.

The reasons for blood discard during the blood collection (blood) preparation process included insufficient or excessive volume, turbidity, discoloration, hemolysis, coagulation, and contamination. Among these, blood discarded due to insufficient or excessive volume amounted to 37,804 units last year.

Representative Shin stated, “The decrease in blood donors has accelerated due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), emphasizing the importance of blood donation even more,” and added, “The government must establish fundamental measures to minimize the amount of blood discarded during the blood preparation and storage process.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.