Health | Blood type in need for surgery is rare among Chinese population

The Health Bureau (SSM) stated that the blood type in need for a surgery in the public hospital is a very rare type (ARh- with antigens Fyª) which is only present in “0.3 percent of the Chinese population.” According to a statement on the database of the Macau Blood Transfusion Center, there are only five blood donors in the territory compatible with such a blood type, a situation that led the services to contact  those individuals directly in order to request their help in solving the situation and saving the patient. As the Times reported yesterday, an alleged stock rupture on a rare blood type (ARh-) led to the delay of a surgery that was initially scheduled to happen last Tuesday at Conde São Januário hospital.
The SSM also declared that although rare in Chinese population, such a blood type and namely the antigens Fyª are present in about 34 percent of Caucasians. The SSM called on all people with ARh- or ORh- blood types to become donors in order to solve the blood bank reserve shortage. RM