Maldives to launch mobile blood donation service

Health Minister Geela Ali says authorities are preparing to launch a mobile blood donation service, allowing donors to donate blood from where they are, including the comfort of their homes.

In an appearance on Television Maldives’ Ahaashey Bunaanan show earlier this week, Geela noted the challenges in finding blood donors, crucial for Maldives which has one of the highest thalassemia rates in the world.

“Now, we understand some people are unable to donate because they don’t meet the criteria. Many Maldivians face this situation,” she said.

Geela named time constraints as another key challenge, with many eligible donors unable to physically go to medical centers to donate blood due to their busy schedules.

She said that the authorities were working on launching a mobile blood donation service to resolve this issue.

“We are working on making it as convenient as possible for volunteers to donate blood. As such, we will be launching a mobile blood donation service very soon. To bring blood donation and storage services as close to the people as possible,” she said.

Geela said that the authorities have established four blood banks in the atolls in an effort to expand access to blood services.

But she stressed that establishing blood banks alone weren’t enough, and that the country needed to increase the number of blood donors.

Statistics from Maldivian Blood Services show there are over 600 registered thalassemia patients in the Maldives, over 500 of whom are based in the atolls.