Most people are familiar with blood donation drives, where participants are always required to roll up their sleeves and give a pint of whole blood to save a life.

But did you know that it is also possible to donate specific components of blood, such as platelets, using a machine called apheresis machine? These are often in higher demand for patients battling serious illnesses.

Platelets are tiny cells in the blood that help with clotting and preventing excessive bleeding.

They are critical for patients undergoing cancer treatment, major surgeries, or organ transplants, as well as those with blood disorders.

At the Nakuru Regional Blood Transfusion Centre, Mercy Cherono, a nurse by profession, says the machine has transformed the quality and volume of platelets collected.

Nurse Mercy Cherono and Jane Kimeli, the lab technologist at the NBTC setting up the equipment to be used for a platelet donation on September 9,2025.

Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR/MTAA WANGU

“From a single whole blood donation, we can only get about 30 to 40 milliliters of platelets after separation. But with this machine, we collect up to 200 milliliters in one sitting, the same as what we would normally need six whole blood donations to produce,” she explains.

Still, Cherono notes that uptake remains worryingly low.

“On average, we receive just about 15 platelet donors in a month, compared to over 2,000 people who donate whole blood,” she says.

“The regional blood bank serves eight counties and often needs 42 bags of platelets per month, yet we are only able to produce about 15, leaving a huge deficit.”

She adds that many shy away because the process takes longer than whole blood donation.

“A normal donation drive takes about 10 to 15 minutes, while apheresis can stretch to an hour. But if people understood the impact, they would know that the extra minutes are worth several lives,” Cherono says.

The apheresis machine works by drawing blood from a donor, separating platelets, and safely returning the rest of the blood, red cells, and plasma back into the donor’s body.

The process may take between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on several factors, but it allows a donor to give platelets more frequently, every two weeks, compared to the three or four months needed between whole blood donations.

Among the few consistent advocates for blood donation is Dr. Joy Mugambi, the Nakuru County Director for Health, Administration, and Planning.

Some of the pints of blood donated through the normal donation process that often takes 10-15 minutes.

Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR/MTAA WANGU

She has been a continuous blood donor for years, but shifted attention to platelets after a close friend battling leukemia struggled to access the lifesaving units.

“Earlier this year, a close friend was diagnosed with leukemia, and we struggled to get enough platelets, an experience that pushed me to promote the most underutilized machine at our blood bank,” she says.

However, Dr. Joy stresses that there is low awareness of component donation.

“Many people know about blood (red) donation, but not about platelet (golden) donation. The truth is, platelets are a rare commodity. If more people came forward to use the machine, we would save countless lives,” she advocates, adding that donating through the machine is safe, simple, and free.

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Leleti Jassor