THE Blood Bank is only receiving half of the 4,200 pints of blood it is trying to collect each month, forcing it to re-launch its volunteer blood donor programme at the Ministry of Health’s Kingston office yesterday.

The new programme will cost between $7 million and $10 million.

Originally launched in March, yesterday’s re-launch is in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

According to director of the National Blood Transfusion Service, Dr Lundie Richards, daily inflows have been steady since the March launch but the volumes sought have not yet been reached.

Adding that the programme will continue indefinitely, as there is always a need for blood, Dr Richards said private sector help would be sought to fund the programme.

“We are at present collecting an average 2,100 pints of blood per month while our aim is to double that quantity,” he said, pointing out that part of the reason for the low inflows is that 25 per cent of potential blood donors were rejected principally because of low haemoglobin blood count, as well as high risk behaviour.

In supporting the drive, PAHO representative, Dr Manuel Pena, said the quality of blood donated in Jamaica was “very good”. The island had achieved crucial, qualitative aspects of screening donated blood for infectious agents such as HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis, he said.

“The screening of blood donated stands at 100 per cent for different infections, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” Dr Pena said.

According to WHO and the Red Cross, a country should collect blood units equivalent to five per cent of its population. Jamaica is collecting 25,200 of the recommended 130,000 units of blood annually which is five times less than the required amount. According to Dr Pena, the United States and Curacao were collecting four per cent each, while the majority of countries in the Americas barely reached 1.5 per cent.

He hailed the voluntary blood donation initiative as important, arguing that it was safer and allows for the planning of a sustainable national programme to ensure a permanent pool of fresh blood.

Dr Pena called for national mobilisation to promote massive blood donations that would go a long way towards reducing maternal mortality and the treatment of acute blood loss.

Against the theme “One love, one blood, partnership for life,” the organisers have listed 10 collection centres islandwide. These include:

* the Blood Bank, National Chest and University College Hospitals in Kingston,

* Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine,

* Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James,

* as well as public hospitals in Mandeville, May Pen, Port Antonio, Savanna-la-mar, and St Ann.