The morning of January 5, 2026 — a Monday, after many days of holidays — hardly looked encouraging. Around 7:00 a.m., the streets were almost deserted, especially as many residents of Bacău were still enjoying extended holidays until January 7 or 8.
Expectations were similarly low at the Bacău Blood Transfusion Center, where staff assumed that, after days of festive meals, few people would consider donating blood. As often happens, expectations did not match reality. Instead, the staff at the Transfusion Center were in for a pleasant surprise.
By the time we visited the center, shortly after 11:00 a.m., 40 people had already completed the donation procedure, while others were still waiting in line. According to Dr. Adriana Ghindă, director of the Bacău Blood Transfusion Center, this is a first. She also pointed out several recent developments:
“While the number of donors was high before Christmas, last year we also recorded an increase in donations between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, on December 29, 30, and 31. Blood was collected even on the last day of the year.”
Last year saw 1,000 more donors than the previous year
Premieres seem to follow one another at the Bacău Blood Transfusion Center, where a new record was set last year. In 2025, a total of 10,750 donations were recorded, compared to 9,704 the previous year.
“This is the first time we have registered over 10,000 donations in a single year. To give you some perspective, in 2022 there were only 7,884 donations. The number of donors has clearly increased. New donors have joined, even as others turned 60 and became ineligible to donate,” Dr. Ghindă told us.
The data clearly indicate an increase in the number of donors. Given that men can donate up to four times a year and women up to three times a year, the rising number of donations confirms that the donor base itself has expanded.
“I even compiled statistics myself. I took over the center in 2015, when we had about 7,200 donations per year. The growth became particularly strong starting in 2024, when the value of meal vouchers for donors was increased,” the head of the Bacău Transfusion Center added.
As a reminder, the value of the meal vouchers received by donors for each donation rose from nearly 70 lei to 280 lei, a change that had an immediate impact on donor numbers. Statistically speaking, the gender distribution of donors is nearly equal, with a slight majority of men.
Beyond the civic importance of blood donation and the benefits offered to donors — including meal vouchers, free medical tests, a day off work, and in some cases free public transport passes — donation also brings significant health-related benefits.
“Donating blood is beneficial because, first of all, it leads to a renewal of the blood’s cellular components — red blood cells and white blood cells. Of course, a significant quantity is removed through donation, but without affecting the body’s balance. Still, 480 milliliters is a considerable amount. There is another aspect as well: the body becomes accustomed to blood loss. God forbid an accident occurs with significant bleeding — a donor’s body reacts differently because it is trained to recover more efficiently,” explained Dr. Adriana Ghindă.
Blood donation is open to individuals aged between 18 and 60, with certain conditions requiring medical documents issued by a family doctor. For instance, people over 50 may be asked to provide a medical certificate to confirm they do not suffer from chronic conditions or are not undergoing treatment.
Blood supplies
Equally encouraging is the fact that, following this record number of donations, blood stocks are now high. This provided peace of mind during the holiday period, compared to previous years when shortages caused serious concern. Just as reassuring is the fact that this significant upward trend in blood supplies is being observed nationwide as well.
