Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 13) — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Wednesday sealed a memorandum of agreement with 62 partners, which will supply blood donors through the annual Mobile Blood Donation (MBD).
In a statement, PRC said the collaboration “aims to establish a regular MBD program nationwide to ensure enough supply of safe and quality blood and blood products all over the country.”
It also aims to raise awareness on the health benefits of blood donation, both for the donors and the beneficiaries.
This will complement the need to maintain an adequate supply of blood so that we can continue giving the gift of life not only for every individual member, especially the most vulnerable,” PRC chairman and chief executive officer Richard Gordon said.
Partner agencies include media outfits such as CNN Philippines, schools and universities, service providers, medical facilities, government institutions, commercial establishments, and business process outsourcing companies, among others.
With the month’s theme “What Can You Do? Give Blood. Give Now. Give Often,” PRC continues its practice of conducting blood drives and awareness campaigns.
According to its statement, the PRC has provided a total of 407,000 units of blood last year, equal to half of the total national collection of all blood service facilities nationwide. A total of 223,000 patients have benefited from these blood units.
“To support indigent patients, PRC has a Blood Samaritan Program which seeks financial donations from different individuals and groups to cover the blood processing fees of legitimate indigent patients. This year, PRC’s National Blood Services has already catered to a total of 6,876 indigent patients,” the statement added.
The PRC currently has a network of 87 blood service facilities nationwide, along with 26 blood centers, 51 blood collecting units, and 10 Apheresis Centers to accommodate different blood services.
