DOH Targets 47,000 Blood Units in Eastern Visayas

Posted on August 13, 2026 at 1:59 pm

Tacloban City — Eastern Visayas is aiming to collect more blood this year as the Department of Health begins full operations of its upgraded regional blood center at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center here.

The region needs to collect blood equivalent to one percent of its population, or about 47,000 units a year, based on an estimated population of 4.7 million.

DOH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Exuperia Sabalberino said the region nearly reached the target in 2025, when blood collections reached 0.97 percent of the population.

“We are slowly upgrading to cater to the needs of the region,” Sabalberino told reporters on Monday, Aug. 3.

She said she is hopeful that the new regional blood center will help the region reach or even exceed the one-percent requirement this year.

“We are optimistic of surpassing the requirement this year, especially now that we have a regional blood center,” Sabalberino said.

Blood donations collected in the region have largely come from donation drives organized by local government units and nongovernment organizations.

The new center is expected to make the collection and handling of donated blood more efficient.

Located within the EVMC complex, the facility has undergone several upgrades in recent years. The national government spent about P100 million on its construction and improvement, including the purchase of new equipment.

The center occupies a 5,000-square-meter property.

Among its new equipment is an apheresis machine, which allows health workers to collect a particular blood component from a donor.

Instead of collecting whole blood, the machine can separate and collect plasma, platelets, red blood cells or white blood cells. The other components are returned to the donor.

This means blood donations can be used according to what a patient needs.

For example, a patient who needs platelets can receive that specific component rather than whole blood.

Still, having a new facility and modern equipment does not solve the region’s blood supply needs by itself.

The DOH continues to encourage people who are qualified to donate regularly.

Under the National Voluntary Blood Services Program, healthy individuals aged 18 to 65 years and weighing at least 50 kilograms are encouraged to donate blood.

Eastern Visayas was only slightly below the one-percent target last year.

This year, the DOH hopes the new facility will help close that gap.

For patients waiting for blood in hospitals across the region, reaching the target means having a better chance that the blood they need will be available when they need it.

The goal is 47,000 units a year.

Getting there will depend not only on the new center but also on the people willing to roll up their sleeves and donate.

Photo courtesy: DOH8