December 6, 2018 –The Blood Transfusion Center in Craiova was upgraded during the 2017-2018 stage of the „A chance for life” program, implemented under the partnership between the Vodafone Romania Foundation and the React Association. The Craiova Blood Transfusion Center rehabilitation project has covered the upgrading of the donor’s route, including the waiting room, the blood harvesting room and the post-donation room, as well as the renovation of the consultation rooms. The rehabilitation works covered a total area of more than 800 square meters. The project also included the provision of specific medical equipment. The funding provided by Vodafone Romania Foundation to this project amounts to over 150,000 lei.
The Craiova Center has not been renovated since its inauguration. Currently, it serves 6 hospitals in Dolj County, from where blood is distributed also to other transfusion centers in the region. Last year, nearly 10,000 donors were registered in Craiova alone, with the number of patients who benefited from blood and blood preparations exceeding 25,000.
The Craiova project is part of the last stage of the „A Chance for Life” program, which includes, in total, the rehabilitation and upgrading of the donor’s route from 24 blood transfusion centers out of the 42 centers currently in operation across the country. The first 18 centers went through this process in the period 2014-2016. Following the rehabilitation and the fit out of the blood transfusion centers with medical furniture and equipment, the number of blood donors and patients benefiting from these nationwide changes is expected to reach almost 1,260,000 in total.
„A Chance for Life” program was launched in 2008, with the funding provided by Vodafone Romania Foundation amounting to approximately 1.5 million euro. After its launch, the program has become the largest national blood donation program in Romania. The program started with several annual information and education sessions, meant to raise awareness of the importance of voluntary and regular blood donation, and continued with mobile blood donation campaigns organized in public places, at university campuses and at company headquarters. In 2014, the program was expanded by adding the rehabilitation and equipping of blood transfusion centers. The Bucharest Blood Transfusion Center, the largest in Romania, was the first to benefit from this program.
As a result of the „A Chance for Life” program, blood transfusion centers in Romania recorded in 2016 a decrease in the average age of blood donors at national level, for the first time ever since 1989. Currently, 30% of the blood donated at national level comes from young blood donors.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian nongovernmental charitable organization, established in 1998, which operates separately and independently from the Vodafone Romania SA’s business. During its 20 years of activity, Vodafone Romania Foundation has funded 1,104 programs run by 706 NGOs throughout the country, in the fields of healthcare, education and social services. These projects had a total of 2.7 million beneficiaries – children, young and old people, physically, socially or economically disadvantaged. So far, Vodafone Foundation Romania has invested over 28 million euro in projects run by nonprofit partner organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs are available at fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatia-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone.
The React Association is a non-governmental organization that significantly participates in the development of the four pillars of any prosperous community: health, education, social economy and community development. The projects implemented by the Association are bringing major changes for the better in people’s lives, thanks to tailored interventions and active involvement. During its eleven years of existence, almost 1 million Romanians have benefited, directly or indirectly, from the activities run by the React Association. The positive impact of its projects is acknowledged by the 18 national and international prizes of excellence it has been awarded so far, which places the Association among the non-governmental organizations in Romania, winners of the largest number of prizes.
