Overcoming stumbling blocks Service marks 25 years

e New Zealand Blood Service is marking quarter of a century of lifesaving work this month when it turns 25.

Established in 1998, the service transformed what was then a disjointed blood transfusion sector into a national organisation that’s helped to save or improve more than 540,000 lives.

NZBS chief executive Sam Cli e says New Zealand is internationally recognised for its safe, quality supply of blood and blood products. “We’ve consistently introduced new

“But none of what we do would have been possible without our donors’ sel ess generosity.” e heroes

More than 610,000 people have donated during the service’s lifetime, with active donors at around 117,000 people.

“Our donors really are the heroes of our story,” says Sam. “ ere is no substitute for what they gift to us – they enable us to supply blood and products that improve or save the lives of around 30,000 people every year.” A single blood donation can save up to three lives and NZ needs more than 5000 donations weekly to meet demand.

5.1 million

“When we began in 1998 we served a population of around 3.8 million,” says Sam “But that gure has now climbed to more than 5.1 million, and demand for plasma has increased exponentially and continues to grow by around 10 per cent every year.”

In 25 years, more than 1.3 million kilograms of plasma have been transformed into 11 products used to treat people who have lost a lot of blood, or who have severe bleeding during surgery. is ‘liquid gold’ is also used to boost immune systems of people with low levels of antibodies, to control some autoimmune disorders, and to support people with certain bleeding disorders.

Since 1998 NZBS has collected more than 3.1 million donations of whole blood and 98,000 donations of platelets, and issued more than 2.5 million units of red blood cells.

To ensure Aotearoa remains selfsu cient for its blood and blood products the NZBS invites new donors to join its lifesaving whanau – even if it means only donating once or twice a year.

“We’ll be seeking around 40,000 new donors during the next 12 months, and every drop counts,” says Sam. To learn more about becoming a donor, visit: www.nzblood.co.nz