Australia needs more ethnic blood donors to reflect our multicultural society

The article was written on July 2, 2019, by Nkayla Afshariyan, a contributor to ABC News Australia, and she discusses the importance of blood donations as its multicultural population continues to grow.

Afshariyan (2019) explains, “As the Australian population continues to grow, the Red Cross estimates the need for blood and blood products will rise 100 percent over the next 10 years.”  In addition, she explains how immigration plays a key role in the population, but not necessarily blood donations.  Afshariyan discusses, “Roughly one-third of our population was born overseas, but they account for just one in five blood donors.  Which means for people with rare blood types who need blood transfusions, the blood pool is pretty small” (Afshariyan, 2019).

Afshariyan quotes Associate Professor Tanya Davison, the Red Cross Blood Service’s National Donor Research Manager from an interview with Hack, “We need our donors to represent the unique blood needs of our entire community, and Australia is an incredibly diverse country with so many people of mixed ethnicities that may have uncommon combinations of blood types.”

This table shows which blood types can be received by others.
Red Cross Blood Service. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/ethnic-blood-donors-needed-in-australia/11271442

She concludes her article by describing a recent case from January where an Australia blood donor was found for a three-year-old in Florida, and discusses the reasons why there might be a lack of donations from ethnic communities.  Davison is also quoted saying, “Research from other countries suggests there are many reasons that could be important, like cultural and religious differences, language barriers, or even frequent travel to countries that may result in a donor being temporarily deferred.”  In addition, “Many countries don’t have a history of volunteering blood to save the lives of strangers, and people from these countries may not be aware of how important it is to donate blood in Australia” (Afshariyan, 2019).

I chose this article because it highlights some important topics covered in the class thus far.  For example, it explains changing populations. Australia, much like the United States, has a population with a rapidly changing demographics.  In addition, it discusses cultural norms and beliefs that may prohibit groups from taking part in certain activities.

We as marketers need to understand our audience, and if a campaign fails, it may be due to asking people/groups to participate in something that goes against certain religious beliefs or cultural values.  Also, we may have attempted to run a campaign during a time that made participants ineligible due to other constraints.

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Please feel free to comment to add to the discussion and provide your own insight!

Sincerely,

Stephen Watts

@jaylee4515

#COMM837S19