Myths and facts about blood donation: saving lives with information

Abstract

Blood donation is the first essential step in transfusion medicine treatments. In Mexico, altruistic blood donations are scarce and there are contrasts between the different states throughout the country. One of the obstacles that prevent achieving the goals of voluntary donation is the lack of knowledge and the presence of misperceptions about this procedure, the health professional can contribute to the eradication of this misinformation, by strengthening their knowledge about blood donation and the myths that surround it, allowing to break the barriers that prevent the population to generate the habit of donating blood altruistically and voluntarily.