"ROSTELECOM" IN ARMENIA STAFF PARTICPATE IN BLOOD DONATION

On October 26 the staff of "Rostelecom" in Armenia participated in blood donation campaign, organized by Hematology Center of Armenian Ministry of Health.

The Hematology Center after Prof.R.H. Yolyan of Ministry of Health of RA, is a unique specialized medical institution dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of blood system diseases in Armenia. The center carries out a full-fledged diagnosis and treatment of children and adults with malignant and other blood system diseases using the new technologies, international guidelines, curative programs and practices.

The Blood Bank is located in Hematology Center, where blood components are derived from the donor’s whole blood, and then provided to both patients receiving treatment at Hematology Center and to other medical institutions in Yerevan and regions.

“Being supporter of a number of programs, “Rostelecom” staff attaches special importance to participation in similar humanitarian initiatives. I can tell you with pride that the response of our employees was surprising and praiseworthy. Our participation is also a call for young people and all those without special contraidictions to contribute to blood bank and health care for our society. This is the least that we, as citizens of Armenia, can do to help people with blood disorders and a number of other issues,” "Rostelecom" in Armenia CEO Hayk Faramazyan remarked.

The blood, donated within the frames of various initiatives, will be used free of charge for children with malignant neoplasms, who receive treatment in Hematology Center, National Center of Oncology and Muratsan Hospital Complex.

Public awareness and dissemination of information on blood donation are among the most important tools contributing to the development of donation in Armenia.

The amount of blood accumulated in the Center annually grows, in particular, if in the years 2000-2001 about 6000-7000 blood samples were taken annually from donors, then in 2016 their number increased up to 15 thousand.

Despite this fact, the Center still has a problem with increasing the amount of blood.

Information dissemination on blood donation is very important in such countries as Armenia and "Rostelecom" staff is promoting the action.

There are certain restrictions for donation and donors have to pass consultancy and procedure with interviews before donation.

In Armenia, according to data for 2016, blood donors prevail among those who donate it in exchange for remuneration (44.9% of cases), about 45.9% of cases of blood sampling are from relatives of patients, while the safest donors are donor-volunteers (only 9.2%).

In recent years, there has been an increase among voluntary donors in Armenia, the number of which from 0.5% in 2002 reached 9.2% by the end of 2016. Nevertheless, according to this indicator, Armenia is ranked among the countries with the lowest donor blood donation.

According to international criteria, in order to ensure the self-sufficiency of the demand for blood components and serum, it is necessary that at least 2% of the population should be donors. In Armenia, this figure is 0.4%. It should be noted that in developed countries more than 20% of the population are donors, and 62 countries collect 100% of their resources from voluntary donors.

More details on the Hematology Center and the donation procedure are presented on their official web site - www.blood.am.