Low blood stocks may cause problems in Turkey’s quake-hit provinces

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Turkish Red Crescent’s (“Kızılay”) South Anatolia Regional Blood Center Manager Naif Yılmaz has stated that the blood stocks “are at a critical level” especially in quake-hit Diyarbakır province.

Yılmaz said “There is a serious problem. We have to send blood every week for children with thalassemia. There are limited blood stocks to these children. We can't send enough blood to hospitals. Hospitals should cancel their surgeries unless it's an emergency. If there will be a serious incident in Diyarbakır province, we may face a blood problem. We cannot meet the need for blood with current stocks,” Diyarbakır’s local news outlet Amida Haber reported on April 12.

His remarks came after Kızılay announced that the blood stocks "have fallen below the minimum level" due to the "Ramadan and not being able to receive donations from quake-survivors."

Opposition figures argued that Kızılay's latest scandals contributed to the decrease in blood donations and called on people to donate more.

Following the Feb. 6 quakes, Kızılay has been at the center of criticism, especially with the tent scandal. It was severely criticized for selling tents and food it was supposed to send to earthquake victims to the NGOs after the quakes. Reports also revealed that the institution sold second-hand goods donated by the citizens.

Citizens asked why Kızılay did not distribute the tents for free at a critical time, questioning what the organization has been doing with their donations.

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