MACAU (UCAN): The Rotary Club of Macau, consisting of eight clubs, joined hands with the Blood Transfusion Centre and Catholic Social Services in the city to launch a public campaign for blood collection amid growing concerns over the drop in donors of the rare Rh- (Rh negative) blood type.
The Rh- blood type is common among Caucasian populations, but Macau has seen the number of blood donors dwindle over the years due to a decline in the number of westerners in the former Portuguese colony.
The Rotary Movement of Macau is slated to out a blood donation campaign from March 14 to mid-April, Joao Francisco Pinto, a Catholic of Portuguese descent and president of the Rotary Club of Macau, said during a press conference.
Since 2001, in collaboration with Catholic groups, the organisation has been running campaigns to make people aware of the importance of blood donation as a way of saving lives.
Last year the campaign was shelved due to the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak.
Pinto said this year’s campaign has a concrete aim to convince Rh- blood donors to join the drive.
“There is an appeal on the part of the eight clubs that, in fact, there is a mobilisation of possible donors to actively participate and to donate this type of blood, since it is particularly scarce among Asian populations,” Pinto told O’Clarim, the Portuguese-language newpaper of the Diocese of Macau.
“Giving blood means giving life,” he said.
According to data from the Blood Transfusion Centre of Macau, the number of Caucasian blood donors dropped from 135 to 108 during 2020 and only 25 of them were Rh negative.
