New Zealand’s plasma supply is at a tipping point, as demand for this “liquid gold” in our blood continues to increase by more than 10 per cent year on year.

This National Blood Donor Week, New Zealand Blood Service is calling for New Zealanders to “Be Golden” by becoming a plasma donor.

Currently just 17,435 people are plasma donors. Together they donated 94,000 units of plasma last year to help ensure the country could keep up with demand.

But with plasma collection targets projected to grow by 50 per cent in the next three years, NZBS need more people to join their pool of plasma donors right now to help share the load and ensure they can meet future demand.

NZBS acting CEO Josh Bankers says plasma is the golden coloured liquid component of our blood and a vital part of many people’s treatments for cancer, auto immune diseases and countless other conditions.

“It can be turned into 11 lifesaving treatments, and used for more than 50 illnesses, as well as helping to treat burn victims, kidney and chemotherapy patients, people who’ve lost a lot of blood, or have recently had major surgery, and boost the immune system of people who cannot make antibodies of their own,” says Josh.

“[That’s why] We call plasma ‘liquid gold’. We need to collect just over 2100 plasma donations every week to keep up with the current demand, but we’re falling short by about 250 donations every week.”

Josh estimates that, in the next 12 months, NZBS needs 1500 more people to start donating plasma regularly.

“And by 2026 we’re projecting we will need around 28,000 plasma donors in total to keep up with growth in demand.”

A plasma donation takes around 45 minutes; and red cells and platelets are returned to the donor and only the plasma component is kept. You can donate plasma every two weeks.

For more information, and to donate plasma, visit: www.nzblood.co.nz/give-plasma

- SunLive