A Canadian Blood Services donor clinic will be held in Wallaceburg on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at UAW Local 251, 88 Elm Dr. S.
The clinic comes after blood services in Canada, England and Australia issued a joint call in August for more donors, saying supplies in the three countries had dropped by up to 30 per cent in recent months.
The services cited pressures including extreme weather, seasonal illness and changing donation patterns. They said demand is growing because ageing populations mean more people living with conditions such as cancer and sickle cell disease that require regular transfusions, and because demand for plasma-based medicines continues to rise.
In the month before that appeal, Canadian Blood Services said its inventories had fallen by nearly 20 per cent. Australian Red Cross Lifeblood launched an urgent appeal for 12,000 donors, and NHS Blood and Transplant in England called for donors to fill 60,000 appointments over the summer.
“The circumstances may be different in each of our countries, but the challenge is shared: too few eligible people donate blood regularly,” said Ron Vezina, vice-president of donor engagement and corporate reputation at Canadian Blood Services. “In Canada, only about two per cent of eligible people currently donate. A strong and resilient blood system depends on more people coming forward, not just when the need is heightened, but as a regular part of their routine.”
Blood services say donors with O negative, B negative and the RO subtype, which is needed to treat sickle cell disease, are especially needed. Appointments can be booked at blood.ca.
