Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) Chairperson Kerem Kınık on Sunday noted that blood stocks in the country have fallen below the minimum level of 50,000 to only 35,000 units, conveying his "alarm" and calling on citizens for voluntary support.

Kınık, who talked to an Anadolu Agency (AA) correspondent about the current status of blood stocks and the "National Blood Donation Campaign," shared the information on how blood stocks are managed, how the pandemic affected supply and noted that he hopes ''that every healthy and responsible individual will adopt blood donation as a habit.''

''We need to continue the blood donation process seven days a week, 24 hours per day," he added.

Kınık underlined that the minimum stock level is 50,000 units, saying: "When we fall below the 50,000 minimum stock level, we issue an 'alarm.' Because this is Türkiye's national bloodstock, we manage these stocks with the voluntary support of our citizens; we fill them with their help and thus meet their blood needs."

Kınık also pointed out that they share the dire conditions with the public clearly and transparently when there are problems and deficiencies in the blood stocks. In addition, he recalled placing calls through social media accounts to reach more people and raise awareness.

He also reiterated that the National Blood Donation Campaign was launched due to a decrease in blood stocks to replenish blood reserves after supplies dropped to critical levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the organization faced a similar situation due to the ongoing flu season throughout the country.

"This is usually a situation we experience in the winter; stocks tend to fall. But this year, similarly as during COVID-19, the flu epidemic diffused throughout the country. This harms the blood reserves," he said.

Apart from this, Kınık also explained that the increase in travel as the midterm break started creates problems in blood donations, adding that these mentioned elements ''build on each other'' and cause adverse effects on blood donations.

''We have to maintain the minimum blood stock levels to meet the daily needs and to obtain reserves when there are sudden widespread needs," Kınık underscored.

Critically low supply

"Blood stocks are currently at the level of 35,000. This is because we use around 8,000-10,000 units of blood daily and consume so much,'' Kınık noted.

''When we receive more blood donations, say an extra 2,000-3,000 units daily, we can refill the stock levels. There is no panic at the moment, but we need to keep the minimum stocks at a certain level in terms of being safe and ready for all kinds of bad conditions and negative situations," he emphasized.

Evaluating the situation, he also pointed out that blood donations decrease during Ramadan and emphasized that starting this period with a high stock level is essential.

Furthermore, Kınık pointed out 1,200 of 1,564 hospitals in the country rely on the Red Crescent as a leading supplier of blood units, noting that to avoid negative consequences for people treated in these hospitals, they manage national blood stocks by sending blood units via plane from one region to other.

''Out of 1,200 hospitals, only 13 have temporary blood banks; they provide their own blood needs. All remaining hospitals are supplied from the Red Crescent,'' Kınık said.

To avoid postponement of emergency or planned surgeries, he said they manage the national blood stocks according to the increased and decreased units in the regions.

''For example, we brought blood from Van to Istanbul by plane the other day. Every day, we ship blood by plane to different locations such as Izmir, Bursa and Thrace – the regions where blood units are lacking. We support one side from the other in this sense. In this way, there is no problem, but naturally, our logistics operations are increasing in the background,'' Kınık explained.

Kınık, who also said that blood donation is an indispensable element that can not be substituted for another treatment, noted that it should be kept separate from all other kinds of discussions and controversies.

Stating that some medical conditions such as Mediterranean anemia and other diseases require patients to have blood transfusions regularly and pointing out that "they fight the clock" during heavy traffic, Kınık emphasized that ''blood donation is an exceptional, sensitive practice in which no manipulation, misinformation should take place.''

Kınık pointed out that people can make an appointment at the nearest donation center from the Turkish Red Crescent "Kanver.org" site and the mobile blood donation app. They can also access all the information they are curious about regarding blood donation via these resources.

He also shared that 14% of the total donors are women and stressed that this number ''should be increased slightly.''

''There are some known urban legends or wrong information about women donating blood. We need to overcome these and continue blood donation 24 hours a day. Because blood is not 'urgent,' it's a continuous need," he concluded.