Measuring public awareness about blood donation in Assir, South-Western Saudi Arabia

Military Blood Service in Poland

Introduction

On 24 February 2022, the Russia-Ukraine military conflict unfolded just across the eastern border of the European Union. It made everyone realize how important it is to secure blood supplies to health-care units in the event of an armed conflict. This paper presents the principles of functioning of the Military Blood Donation Service and the Military Center for Blood Donation and Hemotherapy in Poland.

Methods

The study used data collected in the "Military Blood Bank" information processing system and data from annual reports (2010-2021) sent to the Minister of Health of the Republic of Poland. The reports concerned, among others: demographic data on donors, reasons of permanent disqualifications, numbers of complete and incomplete donations, etc.

Results

Since 2005, the number of donors registered in military blood donation centers ranged between 15 and 35 thousand/year. The most dramatic declines in donors were observed in 2010 and 2020. Successful donations accounted for more than 98% of all donations/year (except 2015), and their number varied between 20 and 32 thousand/year. Among the blood donors, men always predominated and the dominant age group (except for 2010) was 25-44 years. The reasons for permanent disqualification have varied over time: their proportions decreased for viral hepatitis and cardiovascular disease, and increased for respiratory and endocrine/metabolic diseases. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/2021, these proportions have sometimes been reversed.

Discussion

The Military Blood Donation Service has been functioning in Poland for several decades. It is specialized in supplying blood and blood products to the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, it was not possible to refer to the functioning of similar institutions in other countries. Therefore, when evaluating the functioning of Polish military blood donation, we had to rely on numerical values (eg, number of donors/year, donor profile, etc.), which prove a very good organization of blood donation centers. However, it should be noted that, as in other countries, a more active promotion of blood donation in the media is advisable in order to encourage as many young people as possible to donate blood.

Blood Donation Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices during COVID-19 Pandemic: Questionnaire-Based Study in Saudi Arabia

Results

The level of good knowledge of the blood donation process and perceptions constituted more than 52.2% and 52.9%, respectively, of the participants. The biggest motivation for the donation process was the awareness campaigns, which amounted to 52.5%, and the biggest obstacle to the blood donation procedure is the lack of health fitness. It has been found that 43.0% of those who completed the questionnaire had donated blood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

Though the high level of awareness of the importance of blood donation for COVID-19 patients, as well as the satisfaction with the experience of blood donation for patients, the level of general knowledge remains average.

The Impact of WhatsApp on the Blood Donation Process in Saudi Arabia

Background

WhatsApp was the most popular messenger app used in Saudi Arabia with 71% of the total population using it in 2020. WhatsApp is increasingly being used as a tool for mobile health (m-health) interventions; however, concerning blood donation, there is a lack of research studies on the topic.

Objective

This study aims to measure the general awareness levels of the blood donation process and assess blood donation history, the motivators and inhibitors to donating blood, and to assess the impact of WhatsApp on the blood donation process in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

In this research study, a descriptive quantitative cross-sectional analysis was adopted. A questionnaire survey was designed using Google Forms and distributed online through social media applications to collect data. All citizens aged above 18 years of age were eligible to participate in the survey. There were a total of 150 participants in the study.

Results

More than 90% of participants were aware of their blood group, blood donation requirements, and causes to be deferred from the donation. Furthermore, 27% of participants donated blood because their relatives or friends needed blood, 26% donated due to human solidarity, 18% did not donate blood because of their health condition and 14% did not because of the fear of needles. About 33% of participants relied on WhatsApp to search for blood donors, and all the requests were fulfilled with blood donors. In addition, 94% of participants strongly believed that the WhatsApp application had a significant role in bridging the gap for blood banks' need for blood donors.

Conclusion

Social media applications such as WhatsApp can bridge the gap between blood banks, blood donors and the patients in need of blood in Saudi Arabia, where there is a shortage of blood donors.