Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week is Blood Donor Week in this year, 2009, the Year of the Blood Donor—a year when the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is running educational campaigns aimed to raise awareness of the link between donors and recipients. Why? Because giving blood saves lives: one single blood donation can save three lives. The Red Cross Blood Service vision is to share life’s best gift by the provision of quality blood products, tissues and related services for the benefit of the community. One in three people will need blood in their lifetime, but only one in 30 Australians currently gives blood.

In Australia, 26,000 donations each week are needed to meet the demand and in Western Australia 3,000 donations are needed every week to meet hospital demand. That is why the current marketing and communications process is so important, as is the initiative of partnering with organisations and businesses that have large numbers of employees and will actively encourage their employees to donate blood during work time. Any group, organisation, corporation or business can take up this opportunity, and I would strongly encourage them to do so through the Club Red group program.

Individuals and groups can donate at the Red Cross Centre in Bunbury in my electorate, but a collection service is also provided in towns such as Harvey, Collie and Busselton. Everyone at the centre is extremely efficient and welcoming of those donating blood, as I and my staff members found last week when we donated blood. The care and consideration made sure it was a painless experience. In Bunbury in the last 12 months there were 2,636 whole blood donors who on average made two donations each, totalling 5,143 whole blood donations collected.

The majority of red blood cells go to people with cancer as well as those who have suffered traumatic accidents or burns or are undergoing surgery. The plasma is used to make 16 different products and contains very important proteins, nutrients and clotting factors which help both to prevent and to stop bleeding. Plasma is frozen and used in immunisations against chickenpox, hepatitis B and tetanus, for haemophiliacs and for a range of other purposes. The platelets are used to help clot the blood and seal wounds in surgical and cancer patients. My father had acute myeloid leukaemia and had to have regular transfusions, only made possible by the generous blood donors and the work of the Red Cross Blood Service. We need to keep donating blood because all blood components have a short shelf life, creating the need for a constant blood supply. I am aware that platelets last only up to five days, red cells up to 42 days and plasma up to one year.

Could I use this opportunity to encourage every individual who is capable of donating blood to consider becoming a blood donor. A gift of blood is a gift of life for at least three people. Please donate your blood to the Red Cross Blood Service.