Save systematically, not emotionally. How the spread of fake news harms the blood system of Ukraine

However, such messages often turn out to be fake. We explain what is wrong with them and why you should not rush to donate blood immediately after such posts.

Let’s analyze several examples of messages about the urgent need to donate blood. Sometimes the names of real blood centers are used in the messages. For example, recently, information was spread on the network that the third negative blood is urgently needed at the O.O. Shalimov Institute of Surgery and Transplantology.

First, let’s analyze the case with the mention of the Shalimov Institute. The medical facility itself reacted to the spread of calls to donate blood and published a refutation on its Facebook page. The Institute’s administration explained that the information regarding the institution’s immediate need for donor blood is not entirely true. Thus, the Department of Transfusiology functions at the Institute, and a systematic collection of donor blood is carried out. In case there is an urgent need for donor blood or something else (medicines, clothes, etc.), such information is published on the Institute’s official website and social media pages. Therefore, they ask to be more careful with messages in various network groups, as they may be fake or distorted information.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Health (MoH) has repeatedly commented on the spread of reports about blood for wounded soldiers. In particular, at the request of “UP.Zhyttia”, the Ministry of Health confirmed that the situation is under control and there is no critical blood shortage. The blood system in Ukraine operates in the mode of “maintenance of stocks“: accumulated stocks of blood components are replenished in time according to the quantities transferred to health care institutions.

Previously, the press center of the Ministry of Health also explained that Ukraine had established a systematic planned donation, which makes it possible to ensure stable supplies of blood and its components. The specialized state institution “Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination” takes care of coordinating the delivery of supplies between regions. If there is a need for a rare blood group, and there is no time for delivery from another region, then donors who are in the online database are contacted.

It is better and more efficient for the blood donation system to have donors come to blood centers all the time, and not only in the case of a major emergency or in response to individual messages in the media or social networks.

The adverse effect of “emotional” donation was described in detail by the director of the Vinnytsia Regional Blood Transfusion Center, Oksana Banakh, during the presentation of the database of medical fakes “Detox from Propaganda” by VoxCheck. According to her, the spread of fake messages leads to the formation of long queues of people willing to donate blood near blood centers. However, the medical institution will not be able to physically collect all the blood that it will receive from donors in conditions of agitation, as it has limited both technological and human resources.

“We just can’t process all the blood because the equipment has to rest, and our staff gets tired,” she says. As DonorUA explained to VoxCheck, the storage life of blood is short, and its collection and disposal are quite expensive. Also, in addition to everything else, the mass collection of blood, which cannot be used by any means, leads to a waste of resources during the war. Employees try to establish communication with potential donors, explain the need to wait, and make an appointment for another day. However, some people, realizing that there is no urgent need, will no longer return to the center.

The organization also notes that Ukrainians’ habit of spontaneous and family donation (situations when blood is donated only for loved ones if their lives are in danger) negatively affects the quality of blood. Accidental unplanned donations are a risk of transmission of infections to the recipient.

It is important to emphasize that although we call such reports fake, this does not negate the need for donors in general, but only the hyped demand at a specific moment. There is always a need for blood, especially in times of war. However, blood is a limited resource and cannot be stored for long. Collection of donor blood should be carried out constantly in a standardized manner — then, the initiative of citizens will be of maximum benefit.