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An activist has urged people in Jambi to be aware of the Rhesus (Rh) negative blood group
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An activist has urged people in Jambi to be aware of the Rhesus (Rh) negative blood group.
Coordinator for Jambi-chapter Rhesus Negative (RNI), Mira Deswita, said recognizing Rh negative was very important because,globally, very few people have the type.
'Around 15 to 18 percent of Caucasians are Rh negative, but Rh negative is much less common in Asia,' said Mira on Wednesday.
The 2010 Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows that only 1.2 million, less than one percent, Indonesian people are Rh negative.
'As the percentage is very small, blood donors with Rhesus negative are rare so, it's difficult for people with Rh negative blood to find donors,' said Mira.
A patient with Rh-negative cannot receive Rh-positive blood because they will be considered by the patient's body immune system as things that are foreign to the body. As the result, the body will make antibodies (anti-rhesus) to reject the Rh positive blood.
"It will lead to the destruction of Rh-positive red blood cells donated which may further worsen the blood recipient's condition," said Mira, adding that only 10 people in Jambi were registered Rh negative. (nai/ebf)
