Five Facts about blood transfusions

Annually, approximately 118.5 million units of donated blood are collected worldwide, and in the UK alone, 2.5 million units of blood are transfused.1
In 1628, William Harvey, an English physician, discovered that blood circulates around the body.2 After this influential discovery, blood from other dogs was used by physician Richard Lower to keep a dog alive in the firstever successful blood transfusion documented.2
In an attempt to make blood donations more frequent and inclusive, in 2021 the Government removed ‘a question on sexual activity of partners in areas where HIV is widespread, including Sub-Saharan Africa’ from the donor safety check form in order to ‘allow more people to make life-saving donations’ without safety impacts.3
In June 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that, of the 118.5 million blood donations collected globally, ‘40% of these are collected in high-income countries, home to 16% of the world’s population’.4
WHO also announced that ‘in lowincome countries, up to 54% of blood transfusions are given to children under five years of age; whereas in highincome countries, the most frequently transfused patient group is over 60 years of age, accounting for up to 76% of all transfusions’.4

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