Ukraine needs national blood center, experts say
Kyiv, June 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – It is necessary to create a national blood center in Ukraine, manager of the Crab Children's Cancer Foundation Larysa Lavreniuk has said.
"We need a state service system, generally speaking we need a national blood center," she said at the press conference hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to Lavreniuk, the blood donation system broke down together with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the management, regulatory and legal framework have to be reorganized to restore it.
As the manager of the children's foundation reported, Ukraine should arrange "modern and strict blood tests" to identify infections, including hepatitis, HIV, syphilis.
"Our national test systems has an error rate of 50%," she said.
In turn, head of the Red Cross organization in Shevchenkivsky District Natalia Ponomariova said there was a need to create a state program to promote the blood donation movement.
According to her, every healthy person can one or twice a year donate 400-500 milliliters of blood without damaging their health.
"Scientific research shows that no changes, either chemical or physical, appear in the blood structure [after donating blood]," Ponomariova said.
According to her, at the test stage that is obligatory for the donors a large percentage of people drop out because of their health - nearly 60%.
The Red Cross head also drew attention to the fact that Ukraine's state subsidies for blood donation are insufficient. The blood transfusion center pays UAH 86 to the donor for blood and UAH 13 for food.
At the same time, Lavreniuk mentioned that free donation was popular.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14.