Strong interest in blood donation at Chalmers

The initiative is part of the collaboration launched this spring to help strengthen the blood supply and improve preparedness in Sweden. By offering registration and testing directly on campus, the threshold has been lowered for those considering becoming blood donors. If you are English speaking, though, you'll need to register at Geblod in Nordstan. The reason is practical: the registration process includes a health declaration and a personal interview that must be conducted in Swedish. At present, there is no capacity to manage this process in English during the campus visits.

The approximately 75 new blood donors can make a significant difference. Each unit of donated blood is separated into three different blood components - red blood cells, platelets and plasma - which can be used to help different patients. If all of the new donors give blood once, this would correspond to contributions that could help up to 225 patients.

New opportunities this autumn

The collaboration will continue during the autumn. GeBlod plans to be on campus as early as the start of the autumn semester in August to provide information about blood donation and offer simple haemoglobin tests. This will be followed by several opportunities in September and October for students and employees to undergo the initial screening directly at the Student Union Building.

The initiative is based on the national assignment to increase the number of blood donors in Sweden. The National Board of Health and Welfare has tasked the regions with strengthening the blood donor base as part of the country's preparedness and total defence.

The strong interest shown during the spring demonstrates that many people at Chalmers want to contribute. The hope is now that even more students and employees will take the opportunity to become blood donors during the autumn activities.

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