Ruptly
"Roadblocks and the confrontational climate have drastically reduced regular donations in recent weeks at the blood bank in La Paz, Bolivia, a situation that puts at risk the care of patients who require urgent transfusions. In footage filmed this Wednesday, medical center staff can be seen processing and storing donated blood units in refrigerators. "Unfortunately, as a blood bank, we have been affected by all the conflicts we are experiencing here in the city of La Paz, throughout the department, actually. This is causing us various inconveniences in terms of attracting regular donors," explained Gabriela Farfan, head of the blood bank. In addition to the lack of volunteers, mobile collection days have been suspended or are unfeasible due to direct risks. "Not only did they settle in the space, but they also started throwing dynamite sticks around the mobile unit and the places where we were," added Farfan, describing a dangerous scenario that prevents staff from working and deters potential donors. Diego Arispe, one of the few donors who have managed to come to the blood bank, assured that the political situation should not prevent helping those in need. "That is why today, also, in response to a friend's need, I am coming to donate blood," he recounts. According to health authorities, the departmental blood bank, which normally supplies about 400 units daily, currently has reserves of just over 100. The drop complicates the scheduling of elective surgeries and keeps emergency units on alert. The blood bank has asked the authorities to facilitate humanitarian corridors that allow the transit of staff and the mobile unit to conduct collections outside the fixed center. President Rodrigo Paz sent a bill to the Legislative Assembly this Wednesday to regulate states of emergency, with the aim of providing a legal framework for the Armed Forces to operate under humanitarian action criteria and ensure the entry of food, medicine, fuel, and medical oxygen to La Paz and El Alto."
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