TEHRAN – With the blood donation rate of 27 per 1,000 people, Iran attained the first place among 21 countries in Eastern Mediterranean region, said Iran’s Blood Transfusion Organization spokesman.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), the whole blood donation rate is an indicator for the general availability of blood in a country. The median blood donation rate in high-income countries is 32.1 donations per 1,000 people. This compares with 14.9 donations per 1,000 people in upper-middle-income countries, 7.8 donations per 1,000 people in lower-middle-income countries, and 4.6 donations per 1,000 people in low-income countries.

Nearly 113 million blood donations have been collected globally in 2017, said Bashir Hajibeigi, adding that Iran had a significant share of 2 million donations.

While some 70 countries still collect part of their blood supply from replacement or paid donors, blood donation in Iran is 100 percent voluntary, he highlighted.

Iran and Tunisia are the only countries in the region producing plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP), Hajibeigi noted.

Admiring the attempts of Iran in blood supply, the official site of WHO has mentioned to the “success story” of the country. Part of this report comments that “The Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization has reduced the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections drastically in recent decades thanks to improved donor selection, better tests and new methods of screening. All donated blood is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C and Human T-lymphotropic virus."

MAH/MQ/MG