Windhoek — The Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia faces an acute shortage of blood group O and has appealed to donors to come forward urgently.

In a statement, the centre says it faces a critical shortage of blood group O.

"We have a crisis where we do not have enough stock to send out to other areas," said the Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia. Currently, the stock level is at -109, below minimum stock.

Emergency centres have been identified at the United House, Hidas Centre and the Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia. Blood can be donated from 09h00 to 16h00 on weekdays.

While the institution has on average 10000 donors, there is a need to expand the donor population in the country given the growing demand for blood.

Looking at the Namibian population, 44 percent of people fall into the group O blood category, while 42 percent are in group A, with 10 percent categorised as B and 2 percent as AB.

At least 20 percent of blood donations come from school children.

Peak period for blood demand is between February and May due to malaria cases in the northern parts of the country where patients are likely to become anaemic.

During the festive season, more blood is needed because of the likelihood of accidents.

With schools about to close soon, the organisation has to re-double its efforts to ensure adequate stock, says the Blood Transfusion Service of Namibia.

However, the centre cannot ask for more blood than required because blood is perishable and cannot be kept for more than 42 days, though some of its products such as plasma can be kept frozen for longer periods.

Namibia is one of the few countries in Africa that screens 100 percent of donated blood to avoid transfusion of transmissible infections, according to last year's World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

WHO findings showed that out of the 124 countries worldwide sampled for the study, Namibia is one of the 49 that achieves 100 percent testing of unpaid voluntary blood donations.