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overnment aid recipients and would-be brides and grooms may be required to donate blood by the administration due to a prolonged blood crisis in Gorontalo.

Governor Rusli Habibie, who is also head of the Gorontalo chapter of the Junior Red Cross (PMR), said he would work with regents and mayors so that would-be brides and grooms would be required to donate blood when applying for marriage licenses.

'€œFor the time being, the policy will be implemented in the form of a gubernatorial decree and will later become a provincial bylaw. God willing, the regulation will be put into effect next year,'€ he said recently.

Rusli said government aid recipients would be required to hold a blood donation card issued by the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and would be obligated to donate blood once every three months. The governor cited residents listed under the province'€™s housing program as among the new potential blood donors.

Should aid recipients be unable to donate blood, he or she could be represented by an appointed family member.

Rusli said he believed that the new policy would benefit both the donors and the patients in need. Besides saving lives, studies have shown that donating blood regularly has potential health benefits. He said blood donors would also be informed of certain contagious diseases.

He said he had asked all stakeholders to familiarize the public on the new policy aimed at boosting the province'€™s blood supply.

Novita Katili and Aris Kadir, who plan to tie the knot by the end of this year, lauded the new policy, saying that it would be easily implemented as it was of humanitarian value.

'€œDonating blood is healthy and helpful. However, the prospective bride and groom should be in good condition when donating blood,'€ Novita said.

The blood supply crisis in Gorontalo has been going on for years and usually worsens during the holy month of Ramadhan. The situation has also been marred by the widespread practice of blood dealing, in which people offer their blood to those urgently in need in return for a certain amount of money.

Gorontalo City Blood Transfusion Unit (UTD) quality manager Linda Olii said her unit had also blacklisted some commercial blood donors. However, they could try to donate blood elsewhere. '€œTheir numbers are high and it is impossible for us to identify all of them,'€ she said.

Linda added that these paid blood donors often sacrificed their own health by donating blood more than once every three months. She said doing so could cause anemia or red blood cell deficiency.

Each month, her unit is only able to provide between 700 and 1,000 bags of blood, far lower than the ideal number of above 1,000 bags.

Linda said commercial blood donors often wandered around the UTD and hospitals, offering their service in exchange for money.

A regular paid blood donor, Agus Adam, who usually operates around the PMI office and the unit, claimed he was recently paid Rp 500,000 (US$43) for two bags of blood.

'€œPrices can be discussed, it also depends on the blood type in need. The price for type AB blood is higher because it is difficult to find.'€