Adventists have attracted the attention of more people to a solidarity act [Photo Courtesy of the South American Division]

South America

Union of efforts results in the collection of 132 blood bags

Motivated by the Vida por Vidas project, volunteers will be able to help up to 528 people

Brazil | Amanda Januário

The Vida por Vidas blood donation campaign held in Mogi Guaçu, in the interior of São Paulo, collected 132 bags of donated blood on November 20th. The team from the Blood Center at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) conducted the collection at Faculdade Integrada Maria Imaculada. Among the donors, 75 were first time donors.

Since 2012, Vida por Vidas has been held regularly in the municipality. In the beginning, the idea was to charter buses to take volunteers to Campinas, however, due to the high demand, the Blood Center began to provide periodic services in the city.

Daniel Constantino, Project Organizer for Mogi Guaçu, was pleased with the result and hopes that the interval between campaigns will be shorter in the upcoming year, 2022. For him, the biggest challenge "is to motivate young people to leave whatever they are doing for the day to go donate." On the other hand, he claims that there is support from the residents in carrying out the campaign. Snacks and medical staff were readily available.

The end of the year and the pandemic are two major factors in the drop in donations in blood centers. In an interview with Correio Popular Newspaper, Doctor Vagner de Castro, Director of the Blood Center Collection Service, said that donations had dropped 20% since the beginning of the pandemic. Before this period, the blood supply lasted for up to 20 days. However, the average is now three days. For Castro, “this week is crucial [to increase our blood supply] before the end of the year. A donation can save the lives of up to four people.”

The campaign was visited by State Deputy Barros Munhoz, Mayor Rodrigo Falsetti, Councilors Jeferson Luís and Natalino Tony Silva, and the Representative of the Social Solidarity Fund, Ana Filomeno.

How to Donate

– Present original document with photo;

– Be in good health;

– Be between 16 and 69 years old, as long as the first donation has been made by the age of 60. Children under 18 must present the necessary documentation and an authorization form signed by their guardian;

– Weigh at least 50kg;

– Being well-rested (having slept at least 6 hours in the last 24 hours) and fed (avoiding a fatty diet in the 4 hours leading up to the donation);

– If the person has received any vaccine recently, it is necessary to wait a few days to donate. In the case of the flu vaccine, the wait is 48 hours;

– The same period applies to post-vaccination against Covid-19 with CoronaVac. In the case of vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Janssen, it is necessary to wait 7 days;

– It is also necessary to respect the intervals for donation. Men can donate blood every 60 days and a maximum of 4 times every 12 months. Women can donate blood every 90 days and a maximum of 3 times every 12 months.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site.

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