Blood stock in SP is low and worries health institutions

The stock of blood bags is low in the state of São Paulo, raising an alert for the importance of donation. The concern is that with low temperatures forecast this week, levels could remain lower than ideal.

Fundação Pró-Sangue, an institution linked to the State Health Department that provides blood bags to more than 80 medical centers, says it has only 31% of the necessary stock.

The foundation also claims that the Rh negative blood supply operates in a state of emergency. Even so, donations of positive types are also important to avoid large casualties in the coming days.

Blood type O positive, for example, has the lowest rate—only 5% of the capacity deemed necessary. Type O negative is also understaffed and has a reserve reaching 10% of the ideal.

“Without the ideal number of blood bags in stock, the treatment of patients who regularly rely on blood transfusions is compromised,” the foundation said in a statement.

Another institution experiencing the problem is the ACCamargo Cancer Center, a hospital that exclusively treats cancer patients and uses its own blood bank.

“All hospitals have the same need, despite the different profiles”, says Marta Lemos, medical coordinator of the hospital’s hemotherapy and cell therapy service, an area that includes the health center’s blood bank.

Lemos explains that each blood donation is separated into several fractions for different transfusion purposes. An example is the platelet, which has an average shelf life of five days and is very important for the treatment of people with cancer.

The fact that donations are perishable makes it even more difficult for hospitals. “We depend on a constant turnover of donations. We can’t stock up on many bags a day and be calm for a long time”, he says.

Different periods of the year affect the amount of donations. Lemos says that the autumn and winter periods make people leave the house less, reducing the number of visits to the centers. These seasons are also marked by the increase in some flu syndromes, which temporarily prevents new donations.