“We carefully manage stocks to ensure we do not waste any precious blood. As the NHS treats more patients, we need to grow the total number of donors too. “In addition to the rarest blood types, we also need 1 million new donors over the next five years of all blood types. We urgently need new Black African and Black Caribbean donors to come forward and donate blood. This means many sickle cell patients often receive less well-matched blood which, while clinically suitable, can pose a longer-term risk to patients who receive regular transfusions. “Currently we can only meet around half of the demand for R o blood through our existing donor base and demand for this rare blood type is rising. Stephen Cornes, Director of Blood Supply at NHS Blood and Transplant said: Most patients are children, and demand for R o blood is projected to double from 2016/17 – 2025/26. Fifty five percent of Black blood donors have the R o subtype compared to 2.4% of donors from other ethnicities. It requires regular transfusions – most often with the specific blood sub type R o. Sickle cell is the fastest growing genetic blood disorder in the UK and mostly affects people of Black heritage. ![]() There is a particular urgency for more donors of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnicity to treat people with sickle cell. But the public is less familiar with the many sub-types that can provide an even better match to improve their treatment. Most people know the main blood types - O positive (35 per cent of the population), O negative (13 per cent), A positive (30 per cent), A negative (8 per cent), B positive (8 per cent), B negative (2 per cent), and AB positive (2 per cent). This will ensure better matched blood types for patients in the future and reduce health inequalities. The five-year Blood Service Strategy, published today at the start of National Blood Week, sets ambitious plans to recruit up to a million new donors and double the number of regular donors with the rarest blood types. ![]() One million more blood donors are needed over the next five years to ensure patients receive the right type of blood to save and improve their lives, with a particular need for Black African, Black Caribbean and younger donors.
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