LEGAZPI CITY (PIA) -- The Bicol region is experiencing a deficiency of blood supply for January, the blood center of the Department of Health Bicol Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD 5) revealed.

The South Luzon Sub-National Reference Laboratory, also known as the Bicol Regional Blood Center (BRBC),  added that this problem could extend up to February.

The BRBC earlier announced that they could not grant any request for blood due to insufficiency of blood supply since the start of January.

The BRBC gets an average of 50 to 100 requests for blood per day since last January 1.

These requests come from people who require blood transfusion including those who are undergoing surgery, victims of vehicular accidents, cancer patients, delivering mothers, patients undergoing dialysis, and others with similar medical conditions.

BRBC is the lead blood service facility in four of the six provinces of the Bicol region, namely Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Catanduanes. These provinces get their blood supplies from the BRBC.

In a recent advisory, the BRBC suspended its color-coding system of blood stocks as a basis for the implementation of the blood donor mechanism.

As an immediate remedy for the blood crisis, the agency is now implementing the bring-in-a-donor scheme, which started last January 2.

Under the scheme, a relative of a patient needing  blood transfusion brings a blood donor to the BRBC for screening. 

The BRBC is appealing to the public, particularly to organizations in both the government and private sectors, to initiate bloodletting activities in the community. This will help DOH Bicol ensure that blood stocks will not reach a critical low level.

It likewise encourages blood donors to come to their laboratory to donate blood.

The city government of Legazpi, through its City Health Office, conducted a mobile bloodletting activity in Barangay Buraguis to address the need for blood supply. (PIA 5)