TEHRAN – Some 957,000 Iranians donated blood over the first five months of the current [Iranian calendar] year (started March 21), the Blood Transfusion Organization spokesman has said.

In the aforementioned period, blood donation has increased by 12.8 percent compared to the same period last year, IRNA quoted Abbas Sedaqat saying on Wednesday.

He went on to say that the highest blood donation growth was recorded in North Khorasan province with 35.7 percent, Kordestan province with 33 percent, and Hamedan province with 29 percent growth, respectively.

Also, Tehraners donated 21.5 percent more blood in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, he added.

The Blood Transfusion Organization has produced about 1,700,000 units of healthy blood products with the highest quality standards to meet the medical centers’ needs.

"Continuous and repeated blood donation index", considered one of the most important indicators on the international scale and one of the influential components in the "blood health index", was estimated at 85 percent in the aforesaid period.

Donors who successfully donate blood twice or more within 12 months are considered continuous donors.

Referring to the 4.4 percent women’s share of blood donation, he noted that the index of women's participation in blood donation is significantly lower than the average of developed countries.

Iran on par with Europe and U.S.

According to the reports provided by the World Health Organization, Iran competes with Europe and the U.S. in blood donation indices, even outpacing them in one or two cases.

Iran is among the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region as a reference in the field of blood donation activities.

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 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.

Over 2.1 million Iranians donate blood annually, Bashir Haji-Beigi, the former Blood Transfusion Organization spokesman, said in June.

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.

FB/MG