The Minister of Health and Social Protection, Albana Koçiu, took part in the activity organised within the framework of the International Day of Voluntary Blood Donation, during which the functioning of this mobile unit for voluntary blood donation was presented.
In her speech, Minister Koçiu said that the ambulance will travel throughout the country according to a specific calendar. According to her, donating blood in the ambulance means that the National Blood Transfusion Centre will be as close as possible to the donors in the main squares of the cities, making it as easy as possible for citizens to donate blood.
“This ambulance will go to every corner of the territory that has donors and wants to donate, it will create even more convenience for the National Blood Centre to have enough deposits for all those who need it and find it necessary the blood,” underlined Koçiu. She added that with this ambulance we complete the entire cycle from blood collection to delivery to the blood bank.
The Minister of Health also highlighted the investments made through the state budget, which have transformed the National Blood Transfusion Centre into a true centre of excellence in Albanian health. The National Blood Transfusion Centre is equipped with high technology, complete digitalisation of the donor-patient chain, increased capacity for receiving donations, improvement of donation conditions, testing, processing and storage, ensuring the highest quality of blood and guaranteeing access to it.
Minister Koçiu pointed out that the Ministry of Health’s efforts are focused on further raising citizens’ awareness of voluntary blood donation.
“We have carried out numerous awareness-raising campaigns and I believe that this awareness of donating blood has increased and the numbers speak for themselves, as we are no longer where we were 20 years ago. We are all more aware of the importance of this vital issue, which is only possible thanks to donations from people”, said the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Albana Koçiu, who thanked the Italian Embassy in Albania, through the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, for supporting the possibility of a mobile auto-emote for voluntary blood donation.
Thousands of lives are saved through voluntary blood donation, from accident victims to thalassemia patients who have to receive blood every 2 weeks for the rest of their lives. Donating blood every 6 months can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 90%. Every blood donor, as well as periodic donors, benefits from some free tests such as: complete blood; ALT transaminases; confirmation of blood group and Rh; tests for hepatitis B, C, HIV, syphilis, while if you are a periodic donor, in addition to the above-mentioned tests, some additional tests are performed such as glycemia, creatinine, proteinemia, cholesterolemia, triglyceridemia and ferritinemia.