Blood is a gift of life. There is no substitute for this indispensable component of clinical services. For the ageing population, marrow disorder leads to onset of anaemia, making blood transfusion a more important life sustaining measure for the elderly. This has prompted a surge in the demand for blood, causing the blood inventory to remain constantly at a low level in Hong Kong. To maintain a stable and sufficient blood inventory, Hospital Authority (HA) and its Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) jointly introduce measures on both community and clinical levels, including the extension of service hours of blood donor centres, launch of a new mobile app, and promotion of ‘Patient Blood Management’.

Statistics of public hospitals last year reveal that 63% of red blood cells consumed were used on patients aged above 60, of which 28% were over 80 years old. “On one hand, the population aged above 65 is estimated to increase by 50% in the next 10 years, while on the other hand, the number of eligible blood donors, i.e. those aged between 16 and 65, will shrink by 2%. BTS currently allocates and delivers over 700 units of blood to all hospitals daily. But we sometimes can’t even manage to collect 700 units a day. Demand often exceeds supply, posing great challenges to us,” Dr Lau Ching-wa, Associate Consultant at BTS expresses with great concern.

Insufficient supply of blood is also due to the fall in successful blood collection. Over 20% of donors are deferred every day. “Apart from specific travel history and illnesses, 13% of donors are deferred due to low haemoglobin level caused by insufficient intake of iron,” explains Dr Lau.

Appeal to the younger generation through social media platforms plays a crucial role in securing sustainable number of blood donors. To further facilitate donation, BTS will launch a new mobile app on the go in the second quarter next year to allow donors with previous experience schedule appointment with their donor ID number. The app will also help cross check the donor’s donation record to see if the interval period between two consecutive donations meets the requirement or whether the deferred period is over.

Moreover, BTS has reviewed the service hours of blood donor centres. As a result, Causeway Bay and Tsuen Wan Donor Centres have extended service hours to eight o’clock in the evening. In addition to frequent promotion, BTS hosts blood drive to secondary schools, tertiary institutions, corporations, community organisations and shopping malls every day to recruit new donors and reach out to non-routine donors.

It is important to adhere to the principle of optimal blood use at clinical level. HA has introduced the use of iron injection since October this year to help patients who suffer from gastrointestinal bleeding, anaemia caused by menstruation, and renal failure stimulate blood production in body. HA will keep close track of the latest development on clinical blood use.