Coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) and decrease in blood donation: A cross‐sectional study from Sudan

Background and objectives The COVID‐19 pandemic has a negative impact on the blood donation process, and the whole world nowadays is struggling to maintain a sufficient safe blood supply. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for lapsing from blood donation during the COVID‐19 pandemic among the Sudanese blood donors, and also to determine the motives for returning to blood donation. Materials and methods This was a cross‐sectional study. Our population was all lapsing Sudanese blood donors who received an invitation from the national central laboratory and did not respond. We used an interviewing questionnaire, and interviews were done through phone calls. Result 674 blood donors had participated in our study. About 94·6% of the participants were males, and the majority was younger than 36 years. The most common reason for lapsing from blood donation was staying at home to avoid the COVID‐19 infection (60·6%). About 63·4% of the participants said that they would return to donate if there were regular invitations. And 52·4% of our participants said they would return if the COVID‐19 pandemic was controlled. The altruistic factor was the most common motivation for first time donation. Conclusion We have to find strategies to overcome this reduction in the blood donors. We have to raise the awareness of people about the importance of maintaining adequate blood supply; also we have to provide mobile donation sites and to send regular invitations to the donors.