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Become a platelet donor! If you've donated blood before, you know that you've made a tremendous difference for the hospital patients who received your blood. You can take that feeling one step further by donating platelets. Many hospital patients need platelets to survive. By donating platelets, you provide an invaluable gift of life. Why are platelets needed? Blood is made of four components: platelets, plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells. The platelet component is necessary to control bleeding. Patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments are unable to produce enough platelets. Without platelet transfusions, life-threatening hemorrhages could result. History of plateletpheresis Until recently(page update=year 2000), the only way to collect enough platelets for a single transfusion was to take units of blood given by 5 to 10 donors, separate the platelets from the other blood cells using a centrifuge and combine the platelets. Today, sophisticated medica...

BLOOD AS A SCARCE RESOURCE Millions of lives are saved each year through blood transfusions. In many developing countries, people still die due to an inadequate supply of blood and blood products. A reliable supply of safe blood is essential for scaling up health at several levels, particularly for women and children. For instance, more than half a million women die every year from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth worldwide (99% of them in developing countries). Hemorrhage (blood loss) accounting for 25% of the complications, is the most common cause of maternal death. Malnutrition, Thallasaemia and severe Anemia are the major diseases prevailing in children. Over 80 million units of blood are donated every year around the world, but only 39% is collected in developing countries where 82% of the global population lives. Up to 70% of all blood collection in Pakistan are given to children with Thallasaemia, which accounts for about one in ten of all childhood deaths in P...