©Cédric Valax
The Blood Transfusion Center (CTS) is organizing Blood Donor Day this Wednesday at Taaone Hospital. Doctors hope to attract donors, have the opportunity to thank them and raise awareness about donations because the need is constantly increasing.
The Blood Transfusion Center (CTS) is organizing Blood Donor Day this Wednesday at the hospital, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Normally scheduled for June 14, it was postponed to the 19th, due to the passing of the Olympic flame. Doctor Valérie Ségalin, responsible for blood donation collections and promotion, talks about a festive day where each donor will be thanked with a small gift and a snack. But above all, it is an opportunity to remember that needs are constantly increasing. “The need for blood products is increasing by around 5% per year. This day is also important because we are completely autonomous in Polynesia, there are no blood products arriving from outside so we must be able to honor medical prescriptions and treat patients. We are treating more and more complicated diseases in the territory, we are treating them less than before and the population is aging, so the need for blood products increases every year”explains Doctor Ségalin.
To donate blood, you must be of legal age and weigh more than 50 kilos. If certain illnesses prevent donation, others do not, it is the medical interview that allows donors to be given the green light. Once collected by the CTS, the blood is “technical”: centrifugation, filtration and separation of the different components of the blood. Plasma on one side, platelets on the other and red blood cells on yet another side. Each transfusion corresponds to a precise medical prescription. At the same time, the blood is “qualified”: analyzes carried out in the laboratory to verify that the blood is free of infectious diseases transmitted by blood such as HIV, syphilis or even hepatitis. Each component can only be kept for a given period of time, hence the regular call for blood donation. Today around 6,000 people come to donate blood each year and, especially when calls are made in a critical situation, the Polynesians respond.
Blood donation day this Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The CTS is open Monday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
