'We've seen a huge shortage of blood' charity says, urges people to donate
23 August 2022, 14:05
James O'Brien speaks to The Who is Hussain Foundation
The Who is Hussain Foundation Director Muntazir Rai and Head of Relief Dr Sayyada Mawji joined James O'Brien to explain the effects the pandemic has had on blood donations and the dire need to fill the gap.
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The Who is Hussain Foundation is a non-profit organisation aiming to fill the dearth of blood in hospitals to save lives and have an upcoming initiative that they hope will close the gap.
The charity is setting out to break the world record for most blood donations, and joined James O'Brien to explain the feat.
Mr Rai told James: "We are trying to achieve something pretty ambitious. We are trying to get 50,000 people to donate blood on one calendar day on August 27 and hopefully save 150,000 lives."
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This initiative will span six continents, 20 countries and 153 blood donation points.
James asked: "Why is the need for blood donations so acute at the moment? What is it about the current climate that makes this such an urgent mission?"
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Dr Mawji replied: 'All over the world we have seen a huge shortage of blood. It's not just in the UK. In October last year the UK needed a 100,000 new donors just to meet the demand.
Every single day the UK needs to recruit 400 donors just to meet the rising needs in hospitals.'
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James asked Dr Mawji why there was a "reluctance' around blood donations and alluded to people's "fear of needles".
Dr Mawji agreed that "fear of needles" is a factor and went on to dispel common misconceptions about giving blood.
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"A lot of people think the process is very long, it's time consuming, it's onerous, whereas in fact it's actually very very quick. The actual blood donation part takes five to 10 minutes.
"People also think it's painful, again, apart from a small needle being inserted the entire process should be painless.
"Something else I hear a lot is 'I can't donate because i have a particular medical condition' again what you will find is in a lot of these cases you can actually donate."
Dr Mawji urged people to check the NHS website to check their eligibility for blood donations.
To find out more about the initiative visit www.whoishussain.org
