Blood shortage - Donation drop must be tackled

Despite the fact that pressure on the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has eased somewhat in the past 24 hours, the underlying problem still remains.

There is a shortfall in blood donations which the IBTS must address to avoid an occurrence of the shortage which seriously threatened elective surgery in hospitals nationwide.

That danger has been removed, temporarily, by the magnificent response of donors to the critical depletion of blood stocks as highlighted by the IBTS.