Let’s Talk Blood
Ayo Ogundeyi
I don’t personally know a lot of blood donors. I first started donating blood when I was 18, my friend from sixth form told me all about it - and the snacks they give you after. It felt very rewarding, just 1 hour of your time can save up to 3 lives. That’s when I found out what blood type I was, I had no idea because I didn’t feel it was something I needed to know. I made a promise to myself to regularly donate this year.
NHS Blood and Transplant has been contacting me about Ro blood, which is what I have and as any curious person does, I started looking into it. My blood type is B+ and my subtype is Ro which is an important blood type for treating people with sickle cell disorder. I was told this is in very high demand yet only 2% of current blood donors are of Black heritage – that’s roughly 19,300 people.
Let’s get technical now.
Blood is made up of several different components including red blood cells, plasma and platelets. This is then separated into individual components to provide patients with what they need. There are 4 main blood groups in the ABO group system – A, AB, B and O (the group you belong to is dependent on the antigens and antibodies in you blood). The antigens are found on the red blood cells, whilst the antibodies are found on the plasma. The Rh group system is what gives the positive or negative part of one’s blood type.
Blood Type Compatability and Donors in the UK:
*Data accurate as a census conducted in 2018
You are 10 times more likely to have the Ro subtype if you are of Black African heritage or Black Caribbean heritage, compared to someone of caucasean heritage. Many people living with sickle cell have a Ro blood type and sickle cell most commonly affects people from black African or black Caribbean backgrounds.
So, what is sickle cell? Sickle cell is a group of hereditary blood disorders which causes red blood cells to become sickle (or half-moon) shaped. This makes it harder for the red cells to move around the body and they can stick together, blocking blood vessels.
Regular blood transfusions every 4 to 6 weeks are one of the ways to prevent or relieve the symptoms of sickle cell. In recent years, more people with sickle cell have started receiving red cell exchange transfusions. This process removes the patients’ red blood cells and replaces them with those from donors. This requires much more blood than other types of transfusion so the demand for blood has increased.
Only 1% of active donors in the country are black.
This year alone, 12,000 new blood donors of Black heritage are needed to help the rising numbers of sickle cell patients who regularly need blood.
As September is International Sickle Cell Awareness Month, I would encourage everyone to consider donating blood, there are many centres around the UK you could go to, and it only takes an hour of your day. Or to even help raise awareness and shed some light on sickle cell disorders on social media using the hashtag #DearSickleCell.
Here is the link to sign up to donate: https://my.blood.co.uk/your-account/sign-up/
If you have any further queries, they also have a help page: https://my.blood.co.uk/Home/ContactUs
