Australia faces acute blood shortage due to flu season. Red Cross says 12,000 donations urgently needed and urges healthy people to give blood. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is urging those who have avoided flu symptoms to visit centres in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, where shortages are dire, with the greatest need for O-negative and O-positive blood.
According to Cath Stone, Lifeblood's chief customer officer, up to 1,600 donation appointments sit empty every day, with many more people cancelling or rescheduling appointments.
"Even mild symptoms such as sniffles, sore throats, and headaches make people temporarily ineligible to give blood, and this can severely impact the availability of donors during winter months," she said.
"We're urging anyone who is fit and well to book an appointment now, and anyone recovering from illness to donate as soon as they can."
Donated blood is needed for a range of patients including cancer sufferers, new mothers, people undergoing surgery and children. The Red Cross says 12,000 donations are immediately needed to support patients in life-threatening situations.
This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.