FEPODABES president Alberto Mota emphasized in a statement that "the months of July and August are always very critical when it comes to blood reserves," as many regular donors are absent during the summer holidays, but hospital needs continue to grow. He noted that hospitals require approximately 1,100 units of blood every day.

Also today, Santa Maria Hospital warned that "low blood reserves," common at this time of year, have led the unit to postpone some surgeries and appealed for donations to prevent the situation from worsening.

"Blood reserves are low, as they are in all hospitals in Portugal. This is a problem for the country. In fact, the IPST [Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation] is bringing blood from the Azores and Madeira, because we are, in fact, in a difficult situation," Álvaro Beleza, director of the Immuno-Hemotherapy Service at the Santa Maria Local Health Unit, told Lusa news agency.

This opinion is shared by Alberto Mota, who adds that about 15 days ago, the federation presented a proposal to the IPST to extend blood collection hours, particularly at the three collection centres (Porto, Coimbra, and Lisbon, and at the Central Hospitals of Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, and Algarve, with opening hours until 9:00 PM).

The president of FEPODABES states that this proposed change in hours, until September 15th, "would be to give all healthy people the opportunity to donate blood at the end of their workday and at the end of a day at the beach, in cooler weather."

Alberto Mota laments that blood collections continue to be canceled due to a lack of staff at the three blood centers.

This year, the federation launched a campaign called "Give Blood Before Going on Vacation," urging all citizens over 18, weighing more than 50 kilograms, and in good health to donate.

Information about official blood collection locations is available on the FEPODABES website at www.fepodabes.pt or on the APP/DSANGUE.

FEPODABES is a non-profit institution whose objective is to develop activities within the scope of social and humanitarian solidarity in the field of benevolent blood donation, promoting the dissemination of donation among the population.