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)