Filipinos avoid donating blood because they are "afraid of being pricked by needles, people think the nation has a fixed supply of blood, and last, it’s against their religion," Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit told reporters, seeking to explain the woeful donation levels as he kicked off a "Blood Donors’ Month" campaign.
He urged Filipinos to donate blood to shore up the country’s shallow plasma bank.
About one-quarter of one percent of the 80 million Filipinos are regular blood donors, leaving the national blood bank with a 37.5-percent shortage of its annually required 800,000 units, Dayrit said.
The only time Filipinos willingly give blood is if it is needed by relatives, he added.
"Filipinos don’t like pricking themselves with needles," Dayrit said, adding this probably explains the relatively low incidence of AIDS and use of illegal drugs that require needles in the country.
"Some people think that when you subtract your blood supply, you’ll develop anemia. It’s not true… Donating blood every three months is not just healthy but will also help ensure a safe and adequate blood supply."
In efforts to encourage blood donation, both the grown-up children of President Arroyo publicly had their veins tapped.
Only 35 percent of the blood bank’s supply is donated voluntarily, with the rest sold to commercial blood banks.
Dayrit said the objective of the month-long blood donation campaign is to persuade one percent of the population to become regular blood donors.
As a rule of thumb, the Philippines should collect 800,000 units of blood annually, representing one percent of the country’s 80 million population, he said.
"What we want to happen is for Filipinos to donate blood regardless of who will receive them. We hope they would donate blood not just because their relative or someone they know needs it. That is the spirit of volunteerism."
Dr. Cecilia Francisco, head of the Philippine National Red Cross’ blood services department, said not all donors are healthy enough to donate blood, however, and at least 15 percent are turned away each year.
"We encourage people to observe a healthy lifestyle not only for themselves but for others who they can help in terms of blood donation and others," she said.
Blood donated voluntarily is encouraged because those who sell their blood to commercial blood banks tend to "conceal their adverse behavior just to get the money," putting the quality of commercial blood in question, said Dr. Tomas Manansala Jr., manager of the Department of Health’s National Blood Services.
As a policy, those who had tattoos, had their ears pierced, underwent acupuncture or other procedures using needles have to wait a year before they can donate. The same goes for those who have been bitten by dogs.