Latest news with #donors
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Urgent plea for O negative blood donors in Birmingham
The NHS has warned that supplies of O negative blood in the West Midlands are "critically low", as it urges people to Blood and Transplant has revealed there are 4,033 donors in the region with the O negative blood type whose last donation was more than 12 months is calling on these donors to come forward urgently to help the NHS rebuild supplies, after a combination of factors have left this blood type under particular pressure. England remains on amber alert for low stocks of O type blood. The NHS said four bank holidays, the Easter holidays and half-term break all falling within a six-week period had made maintaining steady stocks particularly challenging. Blood donations often drop over bank holiday weekends and holiday periods when people are busy and forget to Gogarty, director of blood supply for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Our 'missing' O negative donors in the West Midlands have the power to relieve the pressure on supplies of this vital blood type."If you are O negative and haven't given blood in a while, please book an appointment to donate today. Don't hesitate - patients need you now."Our donor centres like the one in Birmingham's New Street generally have the best availability. If you can't find an appointment straight away please book further ahead or keep checking back to help fill last minute appointments or cancellations. Every donation makes a critical difference." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Health Line
28-05-2025
- General
- Health Line
Can You Donate Part of Your Liver to Someone with Cirrhosis?
Liver donation can offer hope to people with later-stage liver disease. Cirrhosis (liver scarring) is typically not reversible, so treatment aims to manage symptoms and help prevent further complications. If a person wishes to become a liver donor, they and the recipient will need to consider certain factors and undergo evaluation before deciding on this option. What is living liver donation? Living liver donation is a procedure in which a healthy adult donates a portion of their liver to someone with end stage liver disease. Living liver donation is possible because the liver is the only solid organ in the human body that can regenerate itself completely. In healthy donors, the donated liver portion is typically about half the total liver, and this can fully regenerate within a few months. Who can receive a living liver donation? Living liver donation is an option for patients with end stage liver disease and various other conditions that lead to liver failure, such as cirrhosis. If you have a family member or friend who would like to donate part of their liver to you, speak with your transplant team to open up the discussion around this option. What do liver donors need to know before donating? When considering liver donation, you'll want to take into account certain factors, such as: Donor assessment: Any organ donor must have a thorough evaluation to make sure they're healthy enough to donate. This will also include blood tests such as ALT and albumin to measure liver function. Understanding: It's strongly encouraged that a donor understand the recipient's liver disease, their outlook, and the risks involved with the procedure for both parties. This information can help you make an informed decision about donation. Aftercare: After donation, both the donor's and the recipient's liver cells will start to regenerate. It's important that you are aware of what you can expect following the procedure, including timelines for recovery, strategies to aid healing, and when to expect follow-ups with your care team. Are there any conditions that disqualify someone from being a liver donor? Yes, you will not be able to donate if you have a diagnosis of certain conditions that could affect the health of your liver or increase your risks of complications, such as cirrhosis or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (previously known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis). Blood tests such as the ALT (alanine aminotransferase) test and albumin test are commonly used to assess liver function. The ALT test can detect liver damage or disease, often before symptoms appear, while the albumin test measures levels of a protein made by the liver, with low levels potentially indicating liver disease. Can I donate anonymously to someone I don't know? Yes, it's possible to donate part of your liver to someone you don't know. This is called non-directed or anonymous donation. Because the liver is able to regenerate, you can safely donate one part (or lobe) to someone in need. You do not have to be a particular blood type to apply to donate, as liver donors do not necessarily have to be the same blood type. How long does it take to recover after liver donation? Donor surgery typically takes about 6 hours. Both the donor and recipient will typically stay in the hospital from 5 to 7 days, with close monitoring by their healthcare team while they recover. After you donate, your liver cells will regenerate, and the organ will grow back to 90% of its original size within 6 to 12 weeks for healthy donors. After you leave the hospital, it's important to work closely with your healthcare team to ensure your liver is healing properly.
Independent Singapore
27-05-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
New white paper warns of the cost of inaction on youth mental health across APAC
SINGAPORE: There's a growing cost—both personal and economic—of not addressing young people's mental well-being across Asia-Pacific (APAC), according to a new white paper by the Z Zurich Foundation. The report warned that mental health issues left untreated early in life affect education, work, and relationships later in life. Notably, nearly half of all mental health issues start by age 14. Meanwhile, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among those aged 15 to 29 in several countries across the region. With over 750 million young people aged 15 to 24 in South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific, the report said the need for action was urgent. Despite this, mental health receives merely 1% of health budgets in many parts of the region, with even less funding going to mental well-being promotion. It explained that promotion initiatives aim to create supportive environments where young people can have emotional literacy and positive coping mechanisms. At the same time, prevention focuses on spotting and mitigating risk factors of mental health conditions, especially among the most vulnerable. 'All actors play a crucial role in scaling youth mental wellbeing initiatives and bridging the funding gaps,' it stated. It called on donors, policymakers, and community groups to invest in mental health prevention and promotion for young people across Asia-Pacific. It stated that urgent investment is needed in public-private collaborations, schools that integrate mental wellbeing with learning, and community-based support systems. It added that a future where young people's mental well-being is supported would require immediate action and long-term commitment, including prevention policies, sustainable funding, a trained workforce, and governance that is open to the youth's voices from diverse cultural backgrounds. It also stressed the need for a mindset shift to view youth mental health as key to societal resilience and economic growth. Gregory Renand, Head of the Z Zurich Foundation, said, 'The time for fragmented solutions is over. We must align across sectors, scale proven approaches, build collaborations and invest in systems that put young people at the centre. The future of the APAC region depends on it. Together, we can create environments where young people not only survive but thrive.' See also Morning brief: Coronavirus update for August 5, 2020 The white paper builds on effective examples across the region as it aims to guide public and private organisations, institutions, policymakers, and civil society on how to best support youth mental wellbeing. Some promising initiatives mentioned include youth-led platforms, sports initiatives, emotional education programmes, and blended financing models, which combine the strengths of different sectors to create lasting change. /TISG Read also: Singapore youth turn to AI chatbots for mental health needs as they find it 'far cheaper than therapy' Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
Forbes
25-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Make Charitable Gifts More Effective And Reap More Benefits
Most people wait until late in the year to plan their charitable gifts with the goal of making the gifts by December 31. That traditional approach often leaves a lot of money and other benefits on the table. Often, gifts are made simply by writing a check or donating some assets. The first step to more effective charitable giving is to establish a charitable giving plan. Determine how much wealth you want to donate to charity over time, how much you want to make in lifetime gifts, and how much you want to leave in estate bequests. Also, determine the goals of your giving, especially the causes or charities you want to support. The next step in effective giving is to evaluate the different ways to give, other than writing a check. Charitable giving can provide more than an income tax deduction. Additional benefits might be sheltering capital gains and receiving lifetime income, among others. You gain significant value by starting early in the year and integrating charitable giving with the rest of your retirement and estate plans. Remember that to receive a tax deduction for charitable gifts you must itemize expenses on Schedule A. A minority of taxpayers have itemized expenses since the 2017 tax law doubled the standard deduction, because you only use Schedule A when the total of your itemized expenses exceeds the standard deduction. One way around that problem is to bunch several years of planned charitable contributions into one year. An increasingly-popular way to bunch donations is to contribute a significant amount of money or property to a donor-advised fund. You qualify to deduct the value of the gift (or gifts) you made to the DAF during the calendar year. After funding a DAF account, you recommend contributions from the DAF to charities over time in any pattern you want. There's no minimum annual charitable contribution requirement. You might want to use a DAF to bunch deductions when your other itemized expenses plus the DAF contributions bring your total itemized expenses well above the standard deduction amount. You maintain some control over the DAF account, including choosing how it is invested. The investment returns compound tax-free in the account. Some of the best ways to make charitable contributions don't involve cash. Donating appreciated investments from taxable accounts reaps significant tax benefits in addition to bunching charitable contributions in one year. Most DAFs and other charities accept contributions of a wide range of assets, such as stocks, mutual funds, real estate, digital currencies, and more. Your tax deduction is the fair market value of the property on the date of the gift. There are no capital gains taxes due on the appreciation that occurred while you owned the property. So, you sheltered the capital gains from taxes, qualified for a deduction of the property's value, and the charity will benefit from the property's full value. That's more beneficial than selling the investment and paying taxes on the gain while separately writing a check to charity. Several charitable giving strategies generate an additional benefit: regular income. One strategy is to make a contribution to the charity in return for a charitable gift annuity. The charity pays income to you for either life or a period of years, whichever you select. You can schedule the income to begin immediately or at a later age. The CGA pays less income than a comparable commercial annuity. The difference in income is your gift to the charity and qualifies as an itemized expense deduction in the year of the gift. The amount of the deduction is determined using current interest rates and a formula issued by the IRS. Suppose a married couple ages 65 and one 66, donate $100,000 worth of property with a $50,000 basis to a charity in return for a charitable gift annuity with monthly lifetime payments to begin immediately. At recent interest rates, they would qualify for a charitable contribution deduction of $33,248 in the year of the gift. They'd receive $4,800 annually, paid in monthly installments, no matter how long they live. For 24.6 years, 56.5% or $2,712 of the annual payments would be tax free. The rest would be divided between long-term capital gains and ordinary income. After that, the entirety of each payment would be taxed as ordinary income. The details depend on the donors' age and interest rates in the month the gift is made. Another gift that generates regular income is the charitable remainder trust. You donate cash or appreciated property to the trust. The trust sells any property tax free and reinvests the proceeds. You receive annual income from the trust for either life or a period of years, whichever you select. The payments can be either a fixed amount (known as a charitable remainder annuity trust, or CRAT) or a fixed percentage of the annual trust value (known as a charitable remainder unitrust, or CRUT). After you pass away or the income period ends, the charity receives whatever is left in the trust, called the remainder interest. In either case, you qualify for a charitable contribution deduction in the year of the gift equal to the present value of the charity's remainder interest. You don't owe capital gains taxes immediately on the gain you had in the property. Instead, part of each income payment will be taxed as a long-term capital gain over your life expectancy. The tax code puts minimum and maximum limits on the annual income that can be paid by a charitable remainder trust. Another strategy that should be considered by anyone who is charitably inclined and older than age 70½ is making qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from a traditional IRA. In a QCD, you tell the retirement account custodian to distribute part of the account to a charity. You receive no deduction, but the distribution isn't included in your gross income. Plus, if you're taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), the contribution counts toward your RMD for the year. I've discussed QCDs in detail in the past. Donating a permanent life insurance policy you no longer need can generate tax benefits. When you transfer a policy with a paid-up cash value to charity, you qualify for a charitable contribution deduction equal to the paid-up value. The charity will name itself the beneficiary. The life insurance benefits won't be included in your estate and will benefit the charity. When the life insurance isn't fully paid up, you can transfer ownership to the charity. You make contributions to the charity to pay the future premiums, which qualify as deductible charitable contributions.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Why the UK is facing a critical blood shortage
The UK faces a critical blood shortage, with O-negative reserves nearing depletion due to recent bank holidays impacting donations. NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) warns of a potential "red alert," the highest warning level, if donations don't increase, which would limit operations to prioritise blood for emergency procedures. Hospitals are down to less than three days' worth of O-negative blood, the universal blood type. NHSBT urges eligible donors, especially those with O blood types, to book appointments immediately. The combination of four bank holidays and half-term within six weeks significantly impacted blood supplies, alongside increased demand for O-type blood due to rising health conditions.
