Community Debate - Our Blood Our Lives
Our Blood Our Lives was a series of six community shows discussing and debating the issues around blood donation in the Black community. We know that Black donors make up just 2% of all blood donors so we thought it was time to have an honest and open conversation about why this is.
Black communities have a higher prevalence of diseases like sickle cell that require regular blood transfusions to ward off pain crises. We also know that Black communities see high levels of rare blood types such as RO which many Black people with blood reliant diseases need. We know that people have real concerns about giving blood even though our community has a high demand for ethnically matched blood. We felt that the time was right for a show that listened to all sides of the debate.
For transparency, we have to let you know that the shows were funded by the NHS Blood and Transplant Community Investment Scheme but our application was clear that this would be an honest debate where all views were valid. By funding the shows, they agreed to listen and hear what we had to say.
Listen to the shows here:
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