Almost half of the Dutch (47 percent) do not know their blood group. Furthermore, the Dutch are not very aware of the blood supply in the Netherlands, according to research by Sanquin (the Dutch blood supply organisation).
The survey, which was conducted among 1200 Dutch people, also shows that almost everyone understands that blood donors are essential for health care † 45 percent of the respondents even indicated that they wanted to donate blood, but in practice only 2.5 percent of the Dutch are blood donors.
The main reason for this difference is the fear of blood, needles and fainting † More than 10 percent of the respondents indicated that they did not have time, while most of the respondents knew that giving blood only takes half an hour.
For more information about blood, blood groups, blood supply and Sanquin's open days, visit www.sanquin.nl/opendag>
