Sickle cell disease: black donors urged to give blood as demand from patients soars

A man donates blood in Croydon, south London. Sickle cell disease disproportionately affects people from a Black African or Black Caribbean background. Photograph: NHSBT/PA

The NHS is facing a shortage of blood amid soaring demand from sickle cell disease patients, prompting senior health officials to issue an urgent call for more black donors.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) said a record level of blood donations are needed every day to treat people with sickle cell disease. The rising demand for more care than ever before is because it is the “fastest growing genetic condition in the UK”, it said.