Blood donations, two million threshold exceeded in 2024 and pandemic fear

On 31 December 2024, Avis members reached 1,311,775 anddonations crossed the two million mark, to be precise 2,014,044. The fear of thepandemic that had held back blood donors, actually without reason, is now behind us. This is demonstrated by the data emerging from the 91st General Assembly of Avis, which was held in Brescia from 23 to 25 May.

Statistics on registered members, donors and donations all show a plus sign, confirming the positive trend recorded over the past two years. Noteworthy is the growth of the numbers recorded in 2019, i.e. before the coronavirus pandemic outbreak that had led to a drop in all values. If between 2022 and 2023 the increase recorded had failed to reach pre-Covid levels, this psychological threshold has now finally been crossed, a sign of renewed confidence and willingness on the part of Italians towards a simple but at the same time fundamental gesture for the survival of many people.

On this very subject, special mention should be made of the collections carried out by means of plasmapheresis, which, in 2024, totalled 322,157. Here, growth over the past few years has been exponential, reaching almost 60,000 more than the procedures in 2019, when they stopped at 264,090. This result is perfectly in line with the national average that, again in 2024, recorded a record for the quantity of plasma conferred to the production of medicines that are irreplaceable in the treatment of numerous pathologies (over 900,000 kilos).

These are important results, as the president of Avis nazionale, Gianpietro Briola, emphasises: 'Ours is an association that is increasingly cohesive and attentive to the needs of the transfusion sector and the country in general. Today, more than ever, we can say with certainty that our association model is a beacon and an example of how generosity can generate collective wellbeing. However, we must not let our guard down: there are, in fact, several challenges that still await us and which, together, we can win. These data and the recent past, if we think of the resilience with which we were able to face the emergency generated by the pandemic, teach us this. The first objective we are called upon to achieve is to reach self-sufficiency in plasma-derived drugs, while the second is to increase the number of younger donors: above all, the latter is the only way to encourage the generational change that is increasingly necessary in a society like ours, which is undergoing a relentless process of demographic ageing'.

The meeting was also an opportunity to present the innovative virtual assistant of the avis.it website. An instant chat capable of providing answers to the most common questions about donation and selection and suspension criteria in a matter of seconds. Based on the most powerful artificial intelligence protocols currently available, it automates the information search processes based on a list of sources and content carefully validated by a national Avis team of medical-scientific consultants and digital communication experts. This innovative tool, the only one of its kind in Italy, represents an important step towards more efficient and accessible communication, benefiting both regular donors and those approaching the world of donation for the first time.