The transport from beyond the Tyrrhenian Sea alone costs 360,000 euros for one year. In addition there are the "living" expenses: about 200 euros per bag, for a total of about 25 thousand. Which in a nutshell is about five million euros . Sums that come out of the Region's coffers to import blood into Sardinia. It is used for transfusions of thalassemia patients, but also for surgical interventions. Another 3-4 million are used to bring plasma-derived drugs to the island. Everything from the “mainland”. That is, in detail, from Piedmont and Val D'Aosta, Rovigo, Belluno, Cremona and other transfusion centers with availability.

It happens every year, because donations on the island are not enough. But we won't be able to count on imports for long: "Nine thousand bags have arrived from Piedmont, but the decline is constant: if the trend were to be confirmed, in 2026 we will no longer receive even one". The alarm comes from Mauro Murgia, who heads the regional coordination structure of the blood sector. Assuming a failure to reverse the trend, the scenario is very bad: "Stocks won't be enough, transfusions and even surgical interventions will be skipped".

The analysis comes after Brotzu, the reference transfusion center for southern Sardinia, published the resolution with the economic needs to address the costs related to procurement in 2023. In addition to the sums committed for the purchase from northern Italy, there there are also 1.6 million needed to feed the agreement with the provincial Avis of Cagliari.

The association pays cars, doctors and nurses, as well as proselytizing. And each bag has an average cost of around 75 euros. The same sum, more or less, goes to Avis of Sassari, which covers four healthcare companies. Things work, but not enough. The danger that Sardinia will run out of blood is real.

The island has an annual requirement of around 110,000 bags. «Slightly less than half are destined for the transfusions of about a thousand thalassemia patients. There are around 55,000 Sardinian donors», explains Murgia, «but only 82,000 bags were collected in the last year. It means that each donor supplies about one and a half. It would be enough to get to two and the need would be covered ». And if you can't ask for a further effort from those who already show generosity, there is always an alternative: is the appeal.