Negros Oriental administrator Louella Bael of the Philippine National Red Cross on Friday clarified that their blood deposits cannot be availed of by non-donors.

She said they have turned down several requests for blood especially for those whose are not urgently in need.

The months of November and December are lean months for blood supply, and they have had to request for blood supply from the PNRC in Bacolod City , because their Regional Blood Bank in Cebu is also experiencing insufficiency in supply, she said.

Most requests for blood are from patients at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital, and some calls are from Dipolog, northern Cebu and Negros Occidental.

Bael encouraged local government units and civic organizations to undertake a massive blood donation campaign for them to accumulate enough blood bags.

She also urged parishes like the Cathedral Parish to help in their campaign. A mass blood donation activity will be held at the Redemptorist Parish on December 20, she said.

Qualified blood donors will be given a card to entitle them to use PNRC blood deposits, Bael said.

Meanwhile, the PNRC-Siquijor Sub-chapter is working for the establishment of a “walking blood donor program” to address the need of blood in Siquijor and its neighboring provinces.

Bael said the program aims to identify potential blood donors for every municipality. Their target is to have at least 350 potential donors per town, equivalent to 2,100 or more donors provincewide.

The Siquijor provincial government has allocated P50,000 as counterpart fund.

The blood program of the Philippines is in accordance with the National Blood Services Act of 1994 or Republic Act 7719, in cooperation of the Department of Health, Philippine National Red Cross, and the Philippine Blood Coordinating Council.*MA/RG

back to top