Donating blood is an act of solidarity and each donation can save the lives of four people. According to the National Health System and the Portuguese Blood and Transplantation Institute, to be a candidate for blood donation you must meet certain requirements, such as:
Be over 18 years old, weigh 50kg or more, be healthy in general, have healthy lifestyle habits.
To donate blood, you can go to the blood and transplant centers in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra or hospital services with blood collection.
In a blood donation, around 450ml are collected, which corresponds to around 10% of blood, and depending on the person, after the blood donation, you may feel weak, but before and after the blood donation you should have a snack to reinforce fluid intake, and should not have a large meal before the donation.
Depending on the number of blood donations made, the blood donor is publicly recognized, rewarding with a diploma and even medals that are awarded by the Minister of Health.