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More Male Blood Donors Wanted
10 January 2019, 08:24 | Updated: 10 January 2019, 08:30
Men in Cambridgeshire are being urged match women in becoming New Year blood donors.
New figures from NHS Blood and Transplant reveal that last year 231 women in the county registered in January compared to only 119 men.
Factors affecting male donor recruitment are thought to include the recent greater use of social media campaigns, which are more popular with women.
Mike Stredder, Director of Blood Donation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It’s vital that more men start donating blood because their blood is used to provide life-saving products like plasma and platelets to save victims of burns, car crashes and treat to patients with cancer.
We’re incredibly grateful to all our female donors who are vital in providing lifesaving blood to those in need.
But we need men to catch up with recent recruitment because their blood can have different characteristics which can make it important in certain situations.
It’s more likely that we can use men’s blood to stop bleeding after injury or surgery.
A recent study has shown that fewer men are scared of donating blood than women, so I would appeal to them to step up and be part of an already amazing group of people who have kept their resolution to give blood."
By the second week in January, most people have broken their new year’s resolutions, but NHS Blood and Transplant is asking people, and especially men, to follow through on their commitment and give blood this year.
