THE South African National Blood Service (SANBS) has embarked on a mass blood drive scheduled to take place next Thursday, 21 March – Human rights Day.

Their aim is to recruit new donors and ensure there is sufficient stock of safe blood available in South Africa.

The #NewBlood campaign is targeting the collection of 1 500 units of blood on the public holiday in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Currently less than one per cent of South Africans donate blood even though it demands little more than giving up 30 minutes of their time at least twice a year,” said Sifiso Khoza, regional marketing manager for the SANBS.

“That means that we often experience shortages which places lives at risk; lives of babies born prematurely, lives of accident victims, lives of women giving birth and the lives of people fighting cancer,” added Khoza.

The call comes following Cyril Ramaphosa’s inaugural address as President where he urged South Africans to become a bloods donor on Human Rights Day.

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Khoza says the SANBS will host blood drives around KZN to collect the blood.

“The beauty of blood donation is that virtually anyone can do it. You don’t need to have money or live in a fancy house or have a graduate degree or a fancy car. If you’re over 16 years old, weigh over 50kg and practice a safe lifestyle, you can be a blood donor. And by giving blood you can save up to three people’s lives. So something that costs you nothing, is absolutely priceless for someone in need of blood. Nobody can make a greater impact than saving someone else’s life.”

Khoza said the holiday seasons were traditionally the time they ran short of blood because they are not able to host regular drives at schools and university campuses.

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