Which Israeli city donates the most blood?
Monday marks the International Blood Donor Day in Israel and around the world, and according to Magen David Adom (MDA) blood services data, 271,305 blood units were donated since the last Blood Donor Day, 48,447 of which were from new donors who donated blood for the first time this year. International Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on June 14 in order to raise awareness of blood donations and to mark the birthday of Dr. Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian physician and biologist who discovered the existence of various blood types in 1900. This fact now allows blood transfusions to be given to patients who need this treatment to save their lives. According to MDA blood services data, during the past year (to date), 271,305 blood units were donated in Israel that helped save the lives of about 800,000 sick, injured and mothers in the country. Of those, 68.5% of blood donations were donated by men (185,739) and 31.5% by women (85,566). The data published by MDA also shows that IDF soldiers donated 68,875 blood units, which is a quarter of all blood units donated in Israel in the past year. A full 17% of all blood donors (48,447) donated blood this year for the first time in their lives. The ten cities that have donated the largest amounts of blood are (ranked from highest to lowest) are Jerusalem, topping the list with with 17,096 blood units (6% of all donations in the country), 11,861 of them from men and 5,235 from women. Second in line is Haifa, with 13,619 blood donations, or 5% of all donations in the country; 8,913 of the donors were men and 4,706 were women. Tel Aviv is in third place with 10,601 blood units, which is 3.9% of all blood units donated in the country; 6,887 of the donors in the city were men, and 3,714 were women. Petah Tikva donated 6,732 blood units by 4,776 men and 1,956 women. The capital of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, is in fifth place with 5,941 donations of blood units, of which 4,012 were donated by men and 1,929 by women. Modiin-Maccabim-Reut recorded 5,804 donations of blood units; 3,858 of the donors were men and 1,946 women. The city of Rishon Lezion is ranked seventh, with 5,656 blood units donated by 3,741 men and 1,915 women. In Ashdod, 4,847 blood donations were donated, with 3,203 of the donors being men and 1,644 women. In Netanya, 4,553 blood donations were donated; 3,155 of the donors were men and 1,398 were women. In Ramat Gan, which is in tenth place in the donor cities index, 4,248 blood donations were made by 2,776 men and 1,472 women. MDA Blood Services called on the public to come and donate every day in general and on International Blood Donor Day in particular, with the main donation centers on the festive day located in the Rishon Lezion Municipality building at 20 Carmel Street between 4:00p.m. and 10:30p.m., and in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv between 3:30p.m. and 10:00p.m. In addition to donating 271,305 blood units, MDA blood services teams collected 23,619 units of which 6,890 doses were given to 3,445 Corona patients in moderate and severe condition (two doses per patient). The director of the MDA's national blood donation department, Lior Altman: "Thanks to the generosity of the residents of the State of Israel, the citizens and the soldiers, we are able to reach the required target during the year to provide the blood units to the sick and injured. We thank the many donors who took their time and came to donate." "Every three months, blood can be donated, and we invite the public to continue this important life-saving mission." MDA's Deputy Director General - Blood Services, Prof. Eilat Shinar, said: "Today we mark International Blood Donor Day following the important discovery of blood types by Dr. Karl Landsteiner more than 120 years ago, which is still in use today." "It is important to remember that in order to meet the needs of the health system and in order to treat those who need a blood transfusion to save their lives, MDA blood services are required to donate 1,000 blood units each day. To improve the specificity of the test, a new, modern, and more accurate system was added this year that allows the identification of diseases that may be transmitted by blood transfusions, such as viral hepatitis and AIDS, and a more specific detection of virus carriers. "MDA's blood services will move during the year to their new home in Ramle, to the world's first blood bank building built underground and protected against conventional and unconventional threats. The new blood bank will contain state-of-the-art equipment from the world's leading technologies. "MDA's blood services thank all the blood donors and those who recovered from corona and came to donate plasma that made it possible to treat patients with coronary heart disease." MDA Director General Eli Bin said: "In many cases, a life-saving operation involves blood transfusions that come from the donor's arm through Magen David Adom's blood services to the patient, and thus assist in critical medical care. With the help of hundreds of thousands of donors each year, this important life-saving mission is possible and helps the sick, injured, and mothers throughout the country. We thank the citizens of Israel who donate, time and time again, for the highest value of giving...and volunteer for the benefit of all residents of the State of Israel."