The national campaign to support blood donations carried out by KMG International between August 10 and October 10, in partnership with the National Institute of Transfusion Hematology and the SMURD Foundation had as results 44,620 blood and plasma donors, and 20,079 liters (estimated) of blood.
“The pandemic enforces physical distance on us, but we remain united together and fully responsible. KMG International has supported medical staff and authorities in the fight against the pandemic, and through this campaign we have called for individual involvement, from our employees to all members of the community, to go and donate blood in this time of health crisis. We thanked symbolically to our donors for their gesture of great nobility, by offering vouchers at the transfusion centers across the country, based on which they could receive products, for free, from Rompetrol hei gas stations”– Iskander Abdibaitov, Chief Officer Corporate Development.
“In the current pandemic context it has been a challenge for us, the Bucharest Blood Transfusion Center, to meet the demand of hospitals for blood and blood components, given that the mobile centers and the transfusion points from the hospitals were put off during the pandemic, so we faced a decrease in the total number of donors. However, with the help of our partners we managed to ensure the demand for blood, including plasma from patients who were cured from covid. We thank Rompetrol for this campaign to reward our donors with a healthy meal, for a rapid recovery of the donated blood.” – Doina Goşa, Director of Bucharest Blood Center.
One unit of donated blood can save up to 3 lives. However, in Romania in 2020, statistically, less than 1,5% of the population donate blood, compared to 2019. Still, the number of donors in August –September increased by almost 20% compared to June-July 2020.
“We are pleased with the results of the campaign and the fact that the call for social responsibility was well perceived by the population and we hope that in time such steps will lead to solidarity and awareness of the importance of blood donation. The current context of the coronavirus pandemic adds to the usual need for blood for various types of surgeries the need for plasma from convalescents to treat serious case, and thus the importance of blood donation is growing, and this simple gesture is within the reach of each of us. Because as I mentioned at the beginning of the campaign, the fight for life in hospitals in many moments is literally won drop by drop.” – Dr. Raed Arafat - President of SMURD Foundation.
The campaign took place in all 41 transfusion centers from Romania, and the donors received at the time of the donation a voucher which could be used in any Rompetrol hei gas station to pick up, free of charge, from August 10 to October 15, a meal and a drink.
KMG International has also supported the activity of transfusion centers in Romania through various projects – in 2017 the Group donated to the National Blood Transfusion Institute two plasma refrigerators that meet the norms and European standards imposed, as well as technical-medical furniture for laboratories, and in 2018 endowed the Constanta Regional Transfusion Center with new equipment meant to increase the technical capacity of the medical unit: a platelet agitator and a hemo-mixer, mandatory equipment for any transfusion center.