Labour leader Joseph Muscat pitched in yesterday to encourage blood donations by meeting representatives of the Blood Donors Association at the party headquarters, where he discussed with them the challenges the country faces to have the blood needed for life-saving operations.

Philip Chircop, speaking for the association said the country needs between 50 and 60 bags of blood a day to meet demand, but the situation was that we were far from achieving that. Some of the blood donated, the plasma, is not being used because in Malta there aren’t the systems needed to transform the plasma into usable blood.

Mr Chircop emphasised the need for an awareness of the importance of blood donations, pointing out that a healthy person can donate blood up to four times a year. For women, the number is three times a year.