City officials urged to give blood as donations dry up

City officials urged to give blood as donations dry up

JAKARTA (JP): Civil servants working at City Hall have been
encouraged to become blood donors to help solve the city's blood
stock shortage, an official said yesterday.

Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi said
civil servants could donate their blood through city-owned
hospitals and the city branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

"I am concerned about this situation. The monetary crisis
should not have created a blood crisis because blood is critical
to people's wellbeing.

"Besides urging our employees to donate their blood, the
governor has also urged all private and public hospitals to
enliven their blood bank program in order to prevent a blood
crisis."

Kahfi's call for blood donors was intended to motivate 5,000
officers working at City Hall.

"But it depends entirely on their health and willingness...
this is a matter of choice."

Kahfi also urged residents to go to public hospitals which
have their own blood banks, in a bid to help people who have
encountered difficulties due to the blood shortage.

"This is to curb the scalpers' activities so that the public
pays a standard price for a bag of blood. Hopefully nobody will
be cheated."

City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo said over the weekend that the
council was also to hold a routine blood donation program every
three months.

A representative of the blood bank in Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital said the hospital needs some 10,000 bags of
blood per month. Each bag is sold for Rp 12,000, much less than
the Rp 35,000 charged by the Red Cross.

"The price here is lower because it is subsidized by the
government," the representative, who asked not to be named, said.
"We get our supply directly from PMI.

"So far we're not having any problems ... actually it is very
easy to get bags of blood here. All you have to do is submit the
doctor's request and it will only take about an hour to acquire
the blood."

The blood bank is open 24 hours.

Umar Wahid, the director of RS Koja, a city-owned hospital in
North Jakarta, said the hospital also had its own blood bank.

"So I urge people to come to our hospital's blood bank. It is
much easier to get the blood here."

Red Cross is the main supplier of blood in the city. It
supplies about 15,850 bags per month with each bag containing
between 200cc and 300cc of blood.

Currently, it only manages to supply 84 percent of the city's
blood requirements.

The drop in blood stocks is attributed to a fall in donors
over the past four months. For instance, people had fears about
giving blood during the fasting month (in January), worrying that
it would break their fast.

The monetary crisis has also diminished people's eagerness to
donate blood.

The number of donors has dropped drastically from 200
volunteers per month to less than half, Kristianto Budiono from
Red Cross said Friday.

"We expected more donors this year... but apparently the
condition is getting worse," he said. (edt)