To mark National Blood Week (19th – 25th June), NHS Blood and Transplant is launching an appeal for black donors to register to give blood.
Across England, 40,000 new black donors are urgently needed to meet an increasing demand for blood to help save and improve the lives of patients with sickle cell disease.
Sickle cell disease is the most common and fastest growing genetic blood disorder in England and the UK. In the UK, 15,000 people have sickle cell disease and over 300 babies are born each year with the condition. It is most common in black people, causing extreme pain, life-threatening infections and other complications such as stroke or loss of vision.
Advances in the treatment of sickle cell disease mean that patients with sickle cell disease are living longer and the demand for transfusions is higher than ever before. Yet, to get the best treatment, patients need blood which is closely matched to their own. This is most likely to come from a donor of the same ethnicity.
Many patients also need blood with a special subtype, called Ro, which is more common in black donors. 50% of black donors have this special blood type, compared with only 2% of white donors. Just under 10,000 black people donated blood last year, approximately 1% of the current donor base.
Mike Stredder, Director of Blood Donation, NHS Blood and Transplant says: “Approximately 10,000 black people donated blood last year. But we need more. We urgently need at least 40,000 new black blood donors to help save the lives of patients with sickle cell disease across England.
“Don’t worry if you’ve never given blood before and don’t know what blood group you are – you find out shortly after your first donation. What’s important is that you register as a donor and book your first appointment to donate. By saying ‘I’m there’, you can save the life of someone else, while going about yours.”
Donating blood should take no more than an hour from appointment time and each donation can save or improve up to three lives.
In general, as long as you are fit and healthy, weigh over 7 stone 12lbs (50kg) and are aged between 17 and 66 (up to 70 if you have given blood before) you should be able to give blood. If you are over 70, you need to have given blood in the last two years to continue donating.
