The campaign, which took place at 102 collection points and 12 hospitals across Catalonia, reached a total of 10,236 donations, 10,185 of which were blood or plasma. This figure was slightly below the 10,343 donations recorded the previous year, although it successfully surpassed the 10,000 donation target.
Despite the quantitative success, the Banc de Sang i Teixits has highlighted the need to incorporate younger donors. Currently, 30% of marathon participants are between 55 and 65 years old, making them the largest age group. In fact, more than half of the donors are concentrated in the 45 to 65 age bracket.
The main challenge is to lower the average age of donors and ensure that young people incorporate donation as a regular life habit.
Of the participants, 8.3% (844 people) were new donors, a figure lower than the usual 10%. However, the Bank emphasizes that 55% of these new donors are between 18 and 34 years old. The entity reminds that 1,000 donations are needed daily to maintain reserves for eight days and compensate for the 35,000 people who stop donating annually, either due to age or health reasons.
