SINGAPORE: If you received an SMS asking for type B+ blood donations for a one-year-old boy with blood cancer at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), take heart — he has been discharged and is now recovering at home.
The hospital has clarified that the appeal — which even made its way to MediaCorp's new e-classified page, mocca.com — did not originate from KKH.
According to the hospital, there was no shortage of B+ blood. Supplies for Issac Lim, the toddler named in the SMS, were obtained through the usual channels from the National Blood Bank.
But the appeal raised concerns about the authenticity of such messages' content.
According to the Singapore Red Cross (SRC), the national blood donor recruiter, several were recently circulated about patients who urgently needed blood of a specific type. It noted that with these cases, the email or SMS was often outdated.
Researcher Mak Wai Keong proposed the authorities set up a portal that can authenticate such messages and garner a pool of donors. He received a hoax SMS last year about a badly-burnt boy who needed blood and was shocked that some websites were circulating the information without verifying it.
"Hence, when I saw the latest SMS, I was cautious," he said. A site or a system to help disseminate authentic information would get a better response from the public, he added.
The SRC already has a website with information on the national blood supply (
www.donorweb.org), said Ms Carol Teo, the SRC's corporate communications manager.
Neither the hospitals nor the SRC make appeals on behalf of individuals, she said, adding that there is usually no shortage of B-type blood under normal circumstances. In any case, hospitals have a pool of O-type blood for emergency use, "because 'O' is the universal blood type and it can be given to all," explained Ms Teo.
She reiterated the SRC's position against replacement donation, which occurs when a patient gets a blood transfusion and family members are asked to replace the blood supply.
She also stressed that blood is given based on patients' needs and is not dependent on replacement donations. In fact, even family members cannot donate blood directly to an individual.
The SRC explained that donated blood undergoes a stringent testing process, lasting some 24 hours, to ensure it is safe before being sent to hospitals.
In an emergency, the blood bank will work with individual hospitals to identify the needs of patients and supply the necessary blood.
While it was heartening to know that people were concerned enough to send SMS and email appeals for blood, Ms Teo reminded the public to authenticate such information before circulating it. - TODAY/fa
Messages asking for blood donations often outdated: Singapore Red Cross 
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