January is National Blood Donors month, a time to focus on the need for donors across the country and to celebrate those that donate to help members of their community in need. Over the past decades the number of donors have slowly fallen while the age of donors has risen each year.
This translates to: young people are not donating blood the way older generations have in decades past. Many may jump to the conclusion that younger generations are apathetic, but there is much more to it than that.
Multiple generations that have worked tirelessly are now getting to the “reap the rewards” stage of life to find the cupboards bare. With healthcare costing averaging half (or more) of a regular workers paycheck, it is difficult to offer your blood for free to then have someone in need charged astronomical fees for that same blood, lining the pockets of middlemen.
But there is hope and that is why today we sit down with Dr. Shafer Stedronova to discuss why blood donations are so important and why there needs to be an update to how blood drives function if they want to attract younger donors.
For more information on this topic and many others visit the Talks with Dr. Shafer website.