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Rabat – As COVID-19 cases in Morocco keep surging, Agadir has become the latest city in the country to raise serious concerns about Morocco’s blood shortage.
The Association of Hope for Blood Donors has called for an immediate blood donation drive in the city, urging all residents of Agadir to donate blood so the regional hospital, Hassan II, can continue to save lives of patients in critical condition, according to the local news outlet Le360.
“The situation is very worrying, and from here we call on all citizens to join the regional blood transfusion center located in the neighborhood Hachash in the center of Agadir, to donate their blood to save the lives of patients hospitalized at the regional hospital,” the organization’s secretary general Al Bachir Ould Ba told the news outlet.
As a result of the blood shortage, Hassan II hospital was compelled to turn to the regional hospitals of Guelmim and Marrakech for assistance in the matter, reportedly for the first time.
People living in Agadir or the surrounding area wishing to donate blood can reach Agadir’s regional center for blood transfusion by calling 05282-15142.
Ramadan this year was particularly difficult for blood donations due to the ongoing curfew, in addition to last year’s lockdown. In late April, Amal Darid, the regional director of the National Center for Blood Transfusion and Hematology in the Casablanca-Settat region stressed that there were only a few days worth of blood left in the local centers.
As Morocco’s government extended the night curfew during Ramadan, the center saw less and less donors. While hospitals generally require between 400-600 bags of blood a day, Darid told local media that centers were receiving only five to ten donations a day.
Following the crisis earlier in the year, Morocco’s Health Minister Khaled Ait Taleb announced the creation of a centralized Moroccan Blood Agency on Wednesday, July 15. Through the agency, blood transfusion centers from all over the country will communicate more efficiently and improve general efficiency.
