The hospital launches its end-of-year blood donation campaign
The third edition of the “1000 pockets for the holidays” challenge will take place from December 5 to January 8, a critical moment for the gift.
Donations are currently not enough to cover the demand of approximately 50 pockets a day.
EDITPRESS/FABRIZIO PIZZOLANTE
What if this year, for Christmas, you offer your blood to someone in need? This is what the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) are offering for the third consecutive year. For the third year in a row they are launching the “1000 Holiday Donations” challenge. Open to all, it aims to make up for the lack of donations the hospital suffers from, especially in this period.
A special Christmas tasting for donors will be held on Wednesday 21 December. On the programme: Christmas log and macaroons. Prepared with love by the HUG catering service, they will be offered as a thank you to anyone who makes a donation that day.
“We are optimistic about the success of this challenge which has worked well the previous two times. However, 1000 pockets is not a lot. This only covers the 50 bags that we use every day,” explains Sophie Waldvogel, chief physician of the Geneva Transfusion Center (CTS). “It is above all the drop in donations during the holidays that makes the situation critical. The question remains the same,” she says.
Dependence on Geneva
And he continues: “Although this period is always particularly delicate, know that the HUG has always had a disproportion between the request for blood and donations. We also depend on other cantons for supplies. This is due to the fact that, in addition to welcoming many patients, we practice cutting-edge medicine, which is particularly demanding in terms of blood.
“Even if we manage to keep our heads above water, harvesting requires constant communication. The ideal would be to recruit more donors, but who donate less often,” he explains.
“The ideal would be to recruit more donors, but who donate less often.”
He concludes by stating that “raising more donations is essential if we are to stay on the front lines. The new treatments, which make it possible to deal with increasingly critical situations, have caused a 4% increase in the use of blood bags and a 17% increase in platelet bags alone in recent years”.
At the time of writing, the hospital has raised 495 donations. We remind you that blood donation is open to anyone in good health between the ages of 18 and 60. It’s virtually painless and only lasts about an hour altogether. By far the most sought-after blood type is O negative, which can be given to anyone. However, any donation is of course crucial and welcome. For more information visit www.dondusang.ch .
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