Blood is an integral component of life.
It is the transportation system that carries oxygen and nutrients to our organs and removes waste.
Without it, our brain and heart cells begin to die within minutes, leading to rapid organ failure and death.
Science has yet to find a completely synthetic substitute that can safely replace all the functions of human blood.
Annually, only 2.3% of Malaysians donate blood – well below the 3.5-5% seen in many developed countries.
According to statistics from the Health Ministry, as of Oct 14, 2025, the Federal Territory (10.7%), Malacca (3.1%) and Penang (2.4%) had the highest percentage of donors aged 17-60, who donated at least once in the past year.
Keeping blood safe
Blood comprises three main components: red blood cells, platelets and plasma.
Hence, a single blood donation can save three lives.
Plasma can be stored for up to three years, red blood cells for 42 days, and platelets, only up to five days.
All donated blood is rigorously screened for infectious diseases (i.e. HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis), blood type and overall safety to protect recipients from transfusion-related risks.
However, this first line of blood donation screening is not infallible, as there is a window period after infection when the body has not yet produced any antibodies against these harmful viruses.
As the screening tests are designed to detect these antibodies, there is the potential of missing an early infection in the donated blood.
The highly-sensitive nuclear acid testing (NAT) addresses this by detecting viral nucleic acids earlier than serological tests, reducing the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections such as HIV.
This additional layer of protection has been implemented in many countries, including Malaysia, to ensure the safety of blood products for transfusion.
The supply chain
Our blood supply reaches hospitals across the country through a centralised, nationwide network primarily managed by the Health Ministry via the National Blood Centre (also known by its Malay acronym PDN) in Kuala Lumpur.
PDN acts as the central hub responsible for the coordination of blood collection, testing, processing and distribution.
Along with regional centres in major cities, PDN serves as the main provider for both public and private hospitals.
From PDN and the regional centres, blood is distributed to individual hospital blood banks via refrigerated vehicles, often coordinated through computerised inventory systems that track the supply chain in real time.
Due to strict regulatory control, only a handful of private hospitals have licences from the Health Ministry to operate their own blood banks.
Indeed, some have had their licences revoked due to failure to adhere to the regulations.
No shortfalls
Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) in Selangor is among the private hospitals that have their own blood bank.
This facility has been in operation since the hospital’s inception in 1985.
Yet, a large majority of its blood supply – especially the rare blood types such as O negative (O-), AB negative (AB-), B negative (B-) and A negative (A-) – comes from PDN.
The rest is obtained from its blood donation centre, with the help of regular donors.
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Refusing to divulge how much is stored in its blood bank, SJMC’s laboratory manager Jason Ang Soo Chieng says: “it’s an optimal amount that is sufficient for our patient’s needs.”
The hospital has not, to date, encountered a period where its blood supply has dropped dangerously low.
He says: “Supply can be limited during long holiday periods and festive seasons due to lower donor turnouts.
“In these instances, we follow PDN’s advice on better management of blood supply and increase awareness among our doctors of the situation.”
Blood donation in Malaysia is done voluntarily, based on altruism, and relies on the honesty of the donor when they fill up the Blood Donor Enrolment Form and sign the Donor Declaration and Consent form.
“Any irregularities in the enrolment form are investigated further before any collection is carried out.
"All blood collected is screened for transfusion-transmitted infections, and if any unit is found to be infected, it will be systematically segregated, double-verified, autoclaved and disposed of as hazardous clinical waste,” explains Ang.
One unit of whole blood collection is either 350ml or 450ml, depending on the donor’s body weight.
It takes about 24 hours to carry out screening, so any blood that is required urgently is obtained from stocks in the blood bank that have already been screened.
While regular donors are not rewarded financially, SJMC does offer them little perks to incentivise giving and to recognise generosity.
Ang says: “After five donations, they get a complimentary general screening test with review by a doctor, and if required, a hepatitis B vaccination to maintain the health of the donor.
“We also have appreciation events where we give out acknowledgement certificates.”
Who needs it most?
Blood is most critically needed for trauma victims, cancer treatments, childbirth complications, surgeries and patients with blood disorders like thalassaemia, which affects the body’s ability to produce healthy haemoglobin and red blood cells.
Uncontrollable haemorrhage (bleeding) is the leading cause of death within the first hour of arrival at a hospital’s emergency department.
“We have many accidents on our roads, and often, victims require a lot of blood.
”With cancer treatment back then, it was still in its infancy, so it didn’t require much blood, but now, treatment in this area, particularly in haematology, needs a lot of blood for leukaemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and bone marrow transplants,” says consultant haematologist Dr Ng Soo Chin.
In 2025, SJMC used about 14,000 blood products, and the number is steadily increasing every year.
He says: “On one hand, we provide blood to patients, but we also have to stinge a little.
“For example, in iron deficiency anaemia, we discourage transfusing blood, but instead, treat it with intravenous iron therapy.
“This can effectively raise haemoglobin levels within weeks, sparing the need for transfusions so that the blood can be used for other urgent cases.”
He adds: “In surgery, there are also a lot of laparoscopy procedures that significantly reduce blood loss compared to traditional open surgery, which lowers the need for blood transfusions.
“But having said that, there’s still an upward trend because we’re treating more patients and doing more [bone marrow] transplants.”
Bone marrow transplants are carried out to infuse healthy blood-forming stem cells into your body to replace bone marrow that’s not producing enough healthy blood cells.
It typically takes at least eight to 14 days from the day of transplantation to when blood production starts to normalise, and until then, patients will be supported with red blood cell and platelet transfusions.
In Malaysia, Hospital Ampang in Selangor is the leading public institution for bone marrow transplants (officially called haematopoietic stem cell transplants).
It is the country’s primary national referral centre and has performed over 3,200 transplants to date.
For the private sector, SJMC is the undisputed leader with more than 1,000 successful procedures – Dr Ng performed roughly 650 of these.
He says: “We are saving a life and helping people, so blood donation should be ingrained from young.
“There’s something to be said of young blood and older blood – the quality of blood cells in younger donors is better, that’s why we have a cut-off age at 60.
“We want to be 100% sure the patient and donors are safe.”
If regular donors above 60 years of age meet the required health criteria, they can potentially continue to donate until they reach 65.
If there is an oversupply of blood, Dr Ng says donors are told to come back at another time.
“If there is a request from another hospital, we will share our excess resources, provided they have proper transportation and proper storage facilities ... we are nice people!” he concludes.
