“The year 2024 has been a very atypical year when it comes to maintaining blood reserves at satisfactory levels”, reveals Alberto Mota, president of FEPODABES, in a statement.

Speaking to Lusa, Aberto Mota explained that a “stable reserve must have around 10 thousand units of blood at the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST), and at the moment this is not the case, it is around 5-6 thousand units of blood.”

Some of the consequences of the low blood reserves that the person in charge anticipates for the coming months, and which “have already been seen for half a dozen months”, include the cancellation of some less urgent surgical interventions.

According to Alberto Mota, the decrease in blood donors may worsen in winter “with the appearance of the usual flu and respiratory infections”, which also cause a decrease in the availability of benevolent blood donors.

In a statement, FEPODABES calls for the need to recruit donors, especially from blood groups A+, A-, O+, O- and AB - to restore adequate levels of the blood reserve to meet the needs of Transfusion Medicine Services.

In the appeal, the president of the federation states that “all citizens over 18 years of age, who weigh more than 50 kilos and who are healthy” must donate blood.

This simple gesture - recalled the same person responsible - contributes to "saving many lives”.

The federation states that blood collection is a quick procedure, taking around 30 minutes, and can help save several people, as a single unit of blood can help up to three lives.

Every day, Portuguese hospitals need approximately 1,100 units of blood to meet the needs of patients.

Information on official blood collection locations is available at www.fepodabes.pt and on the portal www.dador.pt.