The IPST is conducting blood donation sessions across the country until September 15 as part of the campaign “Summer is a time to rest, but help cannot stop! Donate Blood! Be the hero patients need during these holidays”. These sessions are taking place in areas with a high concentration of vacationers.
This campaign aims to address the challenges of maintaining necessary blood reserves during the summer months, as explained in a statement.
Highlighting that “August and September are when most people enjoy their well-deserved rest,” the IPST urges the public to donate blood before or during their vacations to “maintain adequate blood reserves and meet patient needs.”
The institute emphasizes that “donating blood is a simple act, with no contraindications for healthy adults,” who must be over 18 years old, weigh 50 kilograms or more, and be in good health.
At the time of donation, it is crucial to be well-hydrated and nourished, the statement notes.
The IPST now publishes the status of blood reserves every Monday on www.dador.pt, allowing regular and first-time donors to stay informed and donate blood.
On this website, donors can find the fixed blood collection sites at the three IPST Blood and Transplantation Centers in Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra, all hospitals with collection services, as well as mobile collection sites throughout the country’s vacation spots.
In recent statements to Lusa, IPST President Maria Antónia Escoval called for increased blood donations, urging everyone, especially those with A positive and negative and O positive and negative blood groups, to donate blood, “because every day about 1,100 patients in Portuguese hospitals need blood”.
