By Alvine Kapitako
WINDHOEK – There could be a critical shortage of blood if the current situation persists in the next few days, the Namibia Blood Transfusion Services (NAMBTS) said yesterday.
In an interview with New Era, Titus Shivute, a donor recruiter at the NAMBTS said the institution’s blood stock was low. He explained that there was only blood stock available for two days while normally the stock would be for nine days.
“We urgently need donors because we could be facing a crisis,” said Shivute. The blood type that is mostly in demand, he said, is the “O” group, which is universal and therefore compatible with all blood types.
In emergency situations, there is little time to test people’s blood types and often they are given the “O” blood type, explained Shivute. Further, he said that generally the demand for blood is always high because most patients are always in need of blood.
“We plead with donors to come and donate blood,” he said. He also appealed to new donors to give blood.
Shivute said people who qualify to donate blood are those who weigh 50 kg or above, older than 16 years old and younger than 65. Shivute further explained that potential blood donors should also be healthy and free of sexually transmitted ailments.