Al-Takhassusi told Al-Arabiya.net: The Saudi Crown Prince’s campaign doubled the blood donation rate to 100%

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The Director of the Blood Bank at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Dr. Ashraf Dada, revealed that the annual national blood donation campaign for the year 2026, launched by the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman, raised the rate of voluntary donation to 100% among the total donors, pointing out that the statistics of the Saudi Ministry of Health showed an increase in blood donation rates “four times compared to the first day of the launch of the campaign.”

The Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, donated blood, launching the annual national blood donation campaign for the year 2026, in a “humanitarian gesture that embodies his continued interest in humanitarian work, enhancing community health, and a continuation of his support for national initiatives aimed at establishing a culture of giving and volunteering, and motivating community members to contribute to saving lives.”

Director of the Blood Bank at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah, Dr. Ashraf Dada, said that the annual national blood donation campaign contributed to strengthening the culture of voluntary donation, noting that the blood donation of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a message encouraging members of society to participate in this humanitarian work, pointing out that the campaign itself attracted in the Eastern Province alone 48% of new donors, meaning that nearly half of the participants donated for the first time in response to it.

In a related context, the Director of the Blood Bank at the Specialized Hospital in Jeddah, Dr. Ashraf Dada, indicated in a statement to Al Arabiya.net that the number of donors in the Kingdom exceeded 900,000 last year, in 2025, compared to about 700,000 in 2023, an increase he described as remarkable, pointing out that one donation saves the lives of three patients.

The director of the blood bank at the Specialized Hospital in Jeddah confirmed that the Crown Prince's blood donation campaign contributed to enhancing blood stocks, and also provided about 10% of rare blood types in some regions of the Kingdom.

In the same context, the director at the Specialized Hospital spoke about the most prominent cases that require the urgent or regular availability of blood and its derivatives. Dada explained that the victim of a single traffic accident may need up to 100 units of blood or more, and large and complex heart surgeries, liver transplants, and some cases of severe bleeding during childbirth require the availability of a ready and sufficient stock.

The needs also include adult patients with thalassemia and sickle cell anemia, who may need regular blood transfusions approximately every three weeks, at a rate of two to four units at a time, that is, more than 30 units annually for one patient, indicating that some cancer patients sometimes need blood daily, especially during the period of chemotherapy.

Regarding estimates of the blood bank’s needs, he stressed that the estimates are based on consumption rates in past years, operating schedules, and the size of organ transplantation programs, major surgeries, and oncology treatment, taking into account seasons in which donations decline, such as summer vacations when donors travel.

He said that the stock usually lasts at least three days, while providing a stock that covers an entire week is better, noting that the scarcity of negative strains is one of the most prominent challenges, as it does not exceed 10% of the total donors, even though these rare units are among the first to be disbursed in emergency situations.

He added that some patients develop antibodies against red blood cells, which may require the provision of units of rare species.