Black African and Caribbean people encouraged to donate blood

Local Black African and Caribbean residents are being encouraged to donate blood with a new campaign by Rochdale Dawah and Become United, as NHS Blood and Transplant says there has been a rise in demand for some rare blood types that are more common in people of black heritage.

Currently only 1.5% of blood donors in the UK are black, whilst around 15% of the UK’s black population has sickle cell disease (compared to around 0.1% of white British people).

Patients with sickle cell disease often require regular blood transfusions, but to get the best treatment, patients need blood that’s really similar to their own. This is most likely to come from a donor of the same ethnicity.

Sickle cell is a group of inherited blood disorders that cause red blood cells to become half-moon (sickle) shaped. This makes it harder for red blood cells to move around the body and they can also clump together and block blood vessels. Patients can become anaemic, experience excruciating pain and also suffer from tissue or organ damage.

The abnormally shaped cells can’t transport oxygen around the body, have a shorter lifespan and aren’t replaced as quickly as regular red blood cells.

Additionally, Black African and Caribbean donors are more likely to have the rare Ro blood subtype, which is used to treat those with sickle cell disease: around 6% of black people have the Ro blood type, compared to 1% of white people.

The Ro subtype is a variation of the rhesus positive (Rh) blood type, so you can have it if you have O+, A+, B+ or AB+ blood. In its simplest terms it is a specific combination of protein markers called antigens which are found on the surface of your red blood cells.

The demand for blood has increased in recent years, as more and more people with sickle cell have started having red blood cell exchange infusions, which involve replacing a patient’s red blood cells with those from donors.

This requires so much more blood than other types of transfusions.

As sickle cell is more common in black people, there’s a real need for blood types that are more common in people of black heritage.

To help encourage more people of Black African and Caribbean heritage to sign up as donors, Rochdale Dawah and Become United are running a campaign with awareness sessions.

As part of the project, they have produced an infographic in four languages: English, Arabic, French and Portuguese.

 

 

A spokesperson from Rochdale Dawah said: “There is a shortage of blood donors from BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) communities in Greater Manchester, which makes it challenging to provide sufficient blood for patients from these backgrounds.

“This shortage is especially concerning for those with rare blood types, which are more commonly found in BAME communities.”

To register as a blood donor, please visit: https://my.blood.co.uk/your-account/pre-registration