A new blood donor centre has officially opened in Porirua, as the New Zealand Blood Service works to collect an extra 25,000 plasma donations nationwide by the end of next month.
The November deadline comes as the Australia-based plant that processes New Zealand's plasma donations prepares to close for three months early next year to undergo routine maintenance.
"So, we need to over-collect to make sure that we have enough that when they resume fractionation, we've got enough to meet the demand," the NZ Blood Service's chief executive Sam Cliffe told 1News.
"Also, like the rest of the health system, we've been really badly impacted by the flu and winter illness this year, so our plasma collections have been down on what we would normally collect."
The opening of the site in Porirua was part of the New Zealand Blood Service's work to grow access to plasma and blood donation, with nearly 20,000 New Zealanders having received plasma-derived medicines last year.
Those medicines can be used for those undergoing chemotherapy, recovering from major surgery, or living with kidney disease.
Cliffe said there had been a significant growth in demand over the years, "particularly for immunoglobulin, which is used to treat people with a range of immune and other serious medical conditions".
"Over the past decade, the amount of immunoglobulin used in New Zealand has more than doubled," she said, increasing by 114%, from 356,582 grams to 762,584 grams.
At the centre's official opening on Monday, Aimee Kinzett celebrated her 100th donation, saying her parents were also regular donors.
"I do remember sitting on my mum and dad's knee while they were donating, so I think it's always been part of one of those things that just you do," she said.
But Kinzett added that donating has recently become more personal to her.
"Recently, I had a friend who had quite a serious blood cancer and she used heaps of products when she was unwell and it kind of feels like giving back for her as well," she said.
Until now, Wellington had only one permanent donor centre in Newtown, supported by mobile blood drives in other parts of the region.
Cliffe said the mobile blood drive visited Porirua every other month and if people wanted to donate plasma they had to travel to Lower Hutt or Newtown.
The new centre will be open five days a week with around 215 donation appointments available for plasma and 75 for whole blood.
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