Blood collection rates in Singapore down by 30 per cent
Singapore Red Cross calls on Singaporeans to donate more blood
She was three months into her pregnancy when she was diagnosed with placenta accreta, a condition that causes severe blood loss after delivery.
She needed seven bags of blood to be transfused into her .
National blood collection rates have declined by 30 per cent since the Covid-19 outbreak in Singapore and the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) is calling on Singaporeans to come forward to donate more blood.
PREGNANT
Madam Siti Rohaini Yunos, 38, was pregnant with her third child three years ago when her doctor told her they will need to transfuse up to four bags of blood into her.
But it was worse than they thought as she eventually needed seven.
Madam Siti told The New Paper: "Imagine if they had been short on supply. I would not be here now with my kids.
"The people who donated blood saved my life."
In the first week of the circuit breaker from April 7, the daily blood collection was less than a quarter of the usual collection.
An SRC spokesman said: "Blood donation remains essential and will continue to be needed as patients need blood every day."
Despite the drop, donors like Mr Abdul Jamal Abdul Hameed, 54, a father of three, continue to donate blood during the pandemic. He has been donating for the past 20 years and was supposed to receive his gold medallion for donating 100 times on World Blood Donor Day on June 14 by SRC.
But the event was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Mr Jamal said: "For me, the medallion is just a milestone.
"During this time, it is more important to continue donating because there are critically ill patients who need blood during the pandemic as well."
VOLUNTEER
Mr Jamal also continues to serve at SRC as a volunteer to help with community and ambulance services and is a first-aid trainer at the SRC Academy.
He has also been deployed to countries such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines and India to assist with first-aid during natural disasters.
He said: "Money is the first thing many people think of when you say 'donation'.
"But you can actually help in many ways and blood donation is one of them.
"Donating blood is an important part of my life and I want to do it for as long as I can."
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