Today, myself and around 12 other foreign residents donated blood at the National Centre for Blood Transfusion in Tirana.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw an article which included a statement from Presidential Advisor Brunilda Paskali. She explained there was a national blood shortage in Albania which was being made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. This, she explained was causing huge problems throughout the country including for children with thalassemia which require regular transfusions.
I had no idea that there was a national shortage and I wanted to do something to help. In the UK, EU and US, giving blood is something that people do quite frequently or at least a few times in their lives. I also knew that there are around 14,000 foreigners living in Albania and that if they knew about the shortage, at least some would be happy to donate blood.
I connected with Brunilda and we decided to organise a blood drive in Tirana and then other events in the coming weeks, throughout Albania. We picked cities with big immigrant communities such as Vlora, Saranda, and Durres.
The event was attended by the Swedish Ambassador Elsa Hastad who also donated blood. She gave a short speech during which she spoke of the importance of regularly donating blood and helping out in Albania. She explained that giving blood in Sweden is popular and some 3% of the population do it regularly, with even more doing it on an ad-hoc basis.
President Ilir Meta also attended to thank those who donated for their contribution. He heads up the Blood Donation Alliance which was created to encourage Albanians to donate blood on a regular basis. The Alliance aims to get 2% of the population to donate on a regular basis.
“I want to thank you all for coming here and donating blood today. This means a lot and I hope it will help to raise awareness of the need to donate blood regularly. Thankyou again for all you are doing,” said Meta.
The plan is to encourage foreign residents and Albanians to donate blood twice a year, taking a total of just one hour, to help those throughout the country that desperately need it. In addition to the donation, donors will receive a blood test and full medical check up for free.
Details of the upcoming blood donation drives in Tirana, Durres, Vlore, and Saranda will be announced in due course.
We all enjoy living in Albania- the weather, sunshine, food, hospitality and way of life, sometimes it’s only fair to give something back. There are many little things we can do to contribute to our host society. Giving blood twice a year is a great, safe, and extremely useful thing to do. One donation can save the life of three people- and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the least we can do.
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