By Greg Dawson
Over 3,000 men are urgently needed to donate blood to centres across Yorkshire.
NHS blood and Transplant have said there is a particular shortage of male blood donors in the Leeds and Bradford Area.
New figures have shown the amount of men giving blood has fallen by a quarter in the last five years from 46,000 in 2014 to 350,000 in 2018 across the country.
Male blood is needed specifically due to it containing fewer antibodies that target red and white blood cells. This means that male blood can be more suitable for creating blood products used to treat patients, as if there are too many antibodies present in blood it can cause negative reactions in vulnerable patients.
Jane Allen, from NHS Blood and Transplant says:” “Men generally have higher iron levels than women and so are more likely to donate on any given day.
“So men are more likely to be able to donate and are able to help more patients with each donation.
“We need a new generation of young male donors to ensure our donor base is strong enough to keep supplying life-saving blood for hospitals.”
Donating blood costs nothing and typically takes less than an hour for those who give it, having the potential to save lives.