SM blood bank helps save lives
FOLLOWING necessary safety protocols, SM Foundation conducts its regular blood donation drive in SM malls nationwide to help address the depleting supply of blood needed by those with medical emergencies.
This effort is in partnership with the Department of Health, Philippine Red Cross and Philippine Blood Center. This is in support of Republic Act No. 7719 or the “National Blood Services Act of 1994,” which encourages and promotes voluntary blood donation to provide sufficient supply of safe blood.
Employees from SM participate in scheduled mass blood donations, spearheaded by SM Foundation Inc. (SMFI) in collaboration with SM medical services. SMFI Program Officer Dalfhen Samson explains, “SM provides the Philippine Blood Bank and Philippine Red Cross with employee donors and venue for the bloodletting activities while both partners handle the storage.”
One blood bag donation can help save three lives as a whole blood donation can be separated into three components: red blood cells, plasma and platelets. In 2020, SMFI collected a total of 1,213 bags of blood, which were utilized to save more than 3,600 lives.
Under this partnership, the PRC and PBC allot a certain number of free blood for SM employees and their dependents. The PRC provides SM with 200 units of blood regardless
of component while the PBC gives 30 percent of the number of blood collected for free annually. All the rest go to the other patients, who request for blood bags through PRC and PBC.