Nationwide demand for blood soars 20% on-year

PROJECTED annual demand for blood nationwide is currently more than 100,000 units, up 20 per cent from last year, according to a senior health official.

Ministry of Health secretary of state Prak Sophorneary said that last year, Cambodia needed one bag of blood to save a life every six minutes.

“We need more than 100,000 banks of blood across the country – up nearly 20 per cent from previous years. The National Blood Transfusion Centre (NBTC) covers over 70 per cent of blood supply across the country,” she noted.

“We receive about 10 per cent of our supply from voluntary blood donors in the Kingdom, while the remainder comes from neighbouring countries,” she added.

On August 22, a blood drive with the theme “Donate blood to save lives” was launched at the Royal School of Administration (RSA), where more than 350 civil servants donated.

Sophorneary commended all donors for giving blood, and called for further support in future campaigns.

“Today’s blood drive was meaningful, but we need to create a habit and culture of regularly giving blood,” she said.

She encouraged the public in general and youth in particular to assist the NBTC to assure an adequate blood supply to patients across the Kingdom.

The health ministry said that regular blood donation had no harmful side effects, and in fact provided benefits such as reducing the risk of stroke, easing stress and cholesterol levels, as well as reducing an excess of iron, all of which could affect the liver and pancreas. Donating blood also contributed to the health of the heart and weight loss, it noted.

The ministry added that having donated blood, people should feel a sense of pride as they have completed a humanitarian activity and helped save lives.

Minister of Civil Service Prum Sokha, who spearheaded the blood campaign at the RSA, said the lack of available stocks of blood is a real challenge for the Kingdom and requires attention. Through the health ministry, the government has endeavoured to encourage regular blood donations, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

However, he said that since the Covid-19 outbreak, blood donation

peace and international security as well as solving ongoing problems and disputes around the globe.

Samrin said Shahid mentioned the close and indispensable relationship between the UN and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and that Cambodia is a model country known for transforming itself from a wartorn nation that had received much support from the UN in the early 1990s to a prominent player in the region today.

“Our second Kingdom of

Cambodia came into existence with the active support of the UN, which enables Cambodia to make an active contribution with various international partners within the executive and legislative frameworks to achieve the agendas it sets, including the 2030 development agenda,” he said in a social media post.

Samrin recalled that in the early 1990s, after the Paris Peace Agreements was established, the UN had sent peacekeeping forces to assist Cambodia, including in organising the 1993 general election.

Now, however, from 2006 through today, Cambodia has sent more than 8,000 peacekeeping troops to join 11 missions in nine countries and is ranked as number 28 out of 122 countries for the size of its contributions in this area.

Samrin also said that from the first mandate to the sixth mandate, the NA has made an active contribution to keeping the peace and building peace in the region and the globe as part of the legislative branch.

Shahid said in a tweet after meeting with Samrin that both sides had a thoughtful conversation on the role of parliaments in global multilateralism, and also recalled the UN’s contributions in Cambodia and their growing partnerships on various issues.

Shahid further tweeted that he had a very successful meeting with Ouch Borith, the Minister attached to the Prime Minister and permanent secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, where they discussed several issues including human rights and collaboration on global challenges.