You can also help other people with healthy blood. Men are allowed to donate blood five times a year, women three times. In the Netherlands, this happens a total of 724,000 times a year, saving an average of 20,000 lives.
Ruud Delwel, molecular biologist, professor and who works in the Hematology department at the Eruasmus MC:“You can lose about fourteen percent of your blood without anything really wrong. If it becomes more, then a precarious situation arises. If you are lying on the street after an accident, a blood transfusion can save your life. But we also often only use platelets from donated blood, because of their positive effect on people after heavy treatment.”
Read also: 'How does donating blood work?'
Blood donors are desperately needed. However, giving blood is subject to a few important conditions. For example, you should:
Do you want to know if you are suitable as a donor? Take the test on Sanquin.nl. Here you will also find the answer to all your questions, and you can register directly.
