The SA National Blood Service does not use race profiling as an indicator for collecting or issuing blood.
Briefing the media in Johannesburg on Friday, chief executive officer Loyiso Mpuntsha said the organisation accepted blood donations from all South Africans and supplied it to patients once the blood was tested to ensure its safety.
"There is a need to clarify perceptions and give people accurate information on blood services like the profiling of blood, how we manage to work with rare blood groups, how we deal with the challenges of high demand of blood and other services," said Mpuntsha.
She thanked the media and all donors for lending a helping hand through the years and said the organisation would start an educational campaign on blood services in communities, particularly the black communities.
"We need to focus on the youth in schools, tertiary education and those within the working environment. With the help of the media, we need to keep the conversation going."
Mpuntsha urged more people to become blood donors, especially during the festive season, a time when there were many road accidents.
The current donor base was ageing and not sufficient to meet the demand in the country. The majority of current blood donors were between the ages of 36 to 50.
"The New Year is a time of new commitment. If we could get more people from other age groups to donate blood regularly in 2008 we will have sustainable blood supplies."
She stressed that the blood was safe as it underwent rigorous testing after collection for transmissible diseases, including HIV, hepatitis and syphilis.
"We use the most sophisticated testing equipment, called Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAT)," said Mpuntsha.
South Africa was the first and only country in the world to do individual NAT testing on every unit of blood on such a large scale.
The organisation relied on the goodwill of the public to donate blood before they went on vacation, Mpuntsha said. - Sapa