Blood Shortages Spur Urgent Donations in New Caledonia and Beni, Congo

In New Caledonia, blood reserves for all groups fell to a critical level, prompting the Centre de don du sang to launch an urgent appeal for donations during the week of 20 July 2026. High‑school students from Lycée Dick Ukeiwë organized a successful on‑site collection, emphasizing the need for roughly 150 units per week and noting a particular deficit of type O blood.

In Beni, North Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo), the Centre de transfusion sanguine warned that dwindling blood stocks threaten hospital care for trauma victims, obstetric emergencies, children with anemia and other patients. The shortage is attributed to a drop in regular volunteer donors, worsened by school holidays and the ongoing Ebola epidemic. Officials have called on the public to donate blood to restore supplies and prevent deaths.