Urgent appeal to donors as blood stocks teeter at historic low

The Portuguese federation of blood donors has appealed for an urgent mobilisation of those deemed suitable to donate blood as stocks in this country teeter at an historic low. The scarcest supplies appear to be in blood groups A-, B-, O+ and O-. The federation warns that with quantities as they stand, the country faces a ‘perfect storm’ of disaster if blood is needed by hospitals in a hurry. It has to be remembered that Portuguese authorities still refuse the blood of expatriate Britons who lived in UK in the late 80s, due to the possibility that it could be infected with Mad Cow disease…