TEHRAN – Over the first nine months of the current [Iranian calendar] year (started March 21), a total of 1,533,582 people donated blood across the country, Bashir Haji-Beigi, the Blood Transfusion Organization spokesman, has said.

Blood donation over the aforementioned period has increased by over 7 percent compared to the same period last year, he highlighted, IRNA reported on Monday.

Tehran province with more than 246,000 blood donations has the highest rate in the whole country, followed by provinces of Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, and Mazandaran, he stated, adding, Semnan, Yazd, Golestan, Qom, and Mazandaran provinces are the top provinces in the rate of participation of regular donors (with a history of blood donation at least twice a year).

Referring to the 4.46 percent share of women in the overall statistics of blood donation in the country, he noted that Lorestan province with about 9 percent share of women blood donation has the highest rate nationwide and Sistan-Baluchestan, Kordestan, Qazvin, Golestan, Markazi, South Khorasan, and North Khorasan are in the next ranks of the top provinces in terms of women's blood donation index.

Tehran province with more than 246,000 blood donations has the highest rate in the whole country. Some 223,473 Iranians referred to blood donation centers for the first time during the past 9 months, which is more than 15 percent of the total number of blood donors, he concluded.

Over 2.1m Iranians donate blood per year

Blood donation in Iran has long been done voluntarily as over 2.1 million Iranians donate blood annually, Haji-Beigi said on June 14.

There are currently 178 blood donation centers in the country, with Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Tehran, and Mazandaran provinces having the largest number of blood donation centers, he stated.

Highest blood donation in Eastern Mediterranean

While blood donation in 70 countries still depends on replacement or paid donors, Iran is the first country in the region that has enjoyed voluntary blood donation by 100 percent since 2007.

More than 85 percent of all donated blood worldwide is used to produce blood products, while the rate is 65 percent in Eastern Mediterranean countries. Iran ranks among the highest-income countries in terms of converting more than 97 percent of the blood donated by people to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP).

Only 55 of 171 countries produce PDMP through the fractionation of plasma collected in the reporting country. A total of 90 countries reported that all PDMP are imported, 16 countries reported that no PDMP was used during the reporting period, and 10 countries did not respond to the question, according to WHO.

Iran currently has the highest blood donation rate in the Eastern Mediterranean region so that out of 9.9 million blood donation units in this region, more than two million belongs to Iran.

Also, the index of blood donation is 25 per 1,000 populations, while in the member states of the Eastern Mediterranean region, this number is 14.9 per 1000.

117.4 million blood donations worldwide

According to the World Health Organization, blood transfusion saves millions of lives and improves health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood.

About 117.4 million blood donations are collected worldwide. 42 percent of these are collected in high-income countries, home to 16 percent of the world’s population.

About 12,700 blood centers in 170 countries report collecting a total of 100 million donations. Collections at blood centers vary according to income group. The median annual donations per blood center are 1,300 in the low-income countries, 4,100 in lower-middle-income countries, and 8 500 in upper-middle-income countries, as compared to 23,000 in the high-income countries.

Data about the gender profile of blood donors show that globally 32 percent of blood donations are given by women, although this ranges widely. In 14 of the 119 reporting countries, less than 10 percent of donations are given by female donors.

Moreover, 62 countries collect 100 percent of their blood supply from voluntary, unpaid blood donors. Some 108 million blood donations are collected globally, half of these are in high-income countries. Meanwhile, blood donation by 1 percent of the population can meet a nation’s most basic requirements for blood.

FB/MG