Swiss Red Cross

Seven in every 10 units of blood collected in Greece last year came from voluntary blood donations, the annual report from the National Blood Donation Center has shown.

The agency said that 13,630 more units of blood were voluntarily donated in 2023, bringing the total of voluntarily donated blood to 378,904 units.

Voluntary blood donation has increased in Greece during the last two years of the crisis. Head of the country’s blood donation center Haris Matsoukas said that 51% of donations are from volunteers and 41% are from friends or family of patients with another 2% from members of the armed forces and 5% from the Swiss Red Cross.