Illinois Coalition of Blood Centers seeks more African-American donors

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A coalition of Illinois blood centers is encouraging more African Americans to give blood.

Studies show that African-Americans supply only one percent of the country’s donated blood. Meanwhile, diseases such as sickle cell anemia are predominant in the black community. These type of illnesses create antibodies that destroy donated blood cells that must be replaced with similar ones. Matching cells to replace the destroyed ones are hard to find outside the African-American community, so finding more sources for blood transfusions can make the difference between life, death and disability.

The McDonough Voice reports:

Springfield, Ill. — The Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers is working with the General Assembly’s Black Caucus to increase blood donations in the African-American community. The campaign is called “Make Every Drop Count.”

Rare blood traits and certain diseases like sickle cell anemia are more prevalent among African-Americans and require frequent blood transfusions.

Dr. Louis Katz is executive vice president of medical affairs at Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, and he says a well-matched blood transfusion is the difference between life, disability and death for some patients.

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