With 145.7 per cent compliance with the voluntary donation plan during the first five months of this year – a similar trend to that of 2023 – the province of Ciego de Avila is strengthening the processing of blood and blood products for local medical care and the Cuban pharmaceutical industry.

According to Dr Yudelvys Pérez Falcón, director of the Ciego de Ávila Alfonso Garnier Hernández Provincial Blood Bank (BPSCA), this year the bank expects to receive some 8,400 donations – 700 a month – which would help supply the two hospitals in the province with the vital fluid and send the industry the raw material needed for the manufacture of certain medicines.

Up to mid-June, 1,232 bags of blood plasma, equivalent to 271 litres of this important blood component, had been delivered to pharmaceutical production, explained Pérez Falcón, who also highlighted the role of the entire network of institutions and donors who guarantee the fulfilment of the plans and, more importantly, the survival of many hospitalised patients.

The work of the BPSCA, however, is not limited to processing blood and providing methodological advice on donations in the health areas: the organisation also organises workshops and conferences, and carries out various activities in each territory, with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of this act of solidarity.(By: Neilán Vera)