271,305 blood donations given in Israel in past year – MDA

Hundreds of thousands of blood donations helped save the lives of about 800,000 patients.

"Blood Brothers" blood donation campaign by IDF and MDA, Oct. 2019 (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
"Blood Brothers" blood donation campaign by IDF and MDA, Oct. 2019
(photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
271,305 blood donations were given by Israelis in the past year, Magen David Adom announced as World Blood Donor Day was marked on Monday.
The hundreds of thousands of donations helped save the lives of about 800,000 patients. 68.5% of the donations were donated by men while 31.5% were donated by women.
IDF soldiers donated 68,875 units of blood, a quarter of all units donated in the past year. 17% of the blood donations in the past year donated for the first time in their lives.
Jerusalemites donated the most blood, with 17,096 units donated (6% of all donations in Israel), followed by Haifa, Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Beersheba, Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut, Rishon Lezion, Ashdod, Netanya and Ramat Gan.
MDA also received donations of 23,619 plasma doses from people who recovered from COVID-19.
"Thanks to the volunteerism of the residents of the State of Israel, the citizens and the soldiers, we were able to reach the required goal during the year to provide units of blood to the sick and wounded," said MDA Blood Donations Department Director Lior Altman. "We thank the many donors who took time and came to donate. Once every three months blood can be donated and we invite the public to continue this important mission of saving lives."
 
MDA Director-General Eli Bin echoed the sentiment.
 
"In many cases, a life-saving operation involves units of blood that come from the donor's arm through MDA's blood services to the patient and thus aid in critical medical care," he said. "With the help of hundreds of thousands of donors every year, we make this important life-saving mission possible and help the sick, injured and women giving birth across the country. We thank the citizens of Israel who donate, time and time again, for the highest value of giving and donate bloodily voluntarily for the benefit of all residents of the State of Israel."