Donate blood in Penang: where, when and who can give

The short version

You can give blood on weekdays at the blood donation counter of Penang Hospital (Hospital Pulau Pinang), door 018, ground floor of Block B, from 7.30am to 5.30pm, and on the first Saturday of each month from 8am to 4pm. The national blood centre's rules say donors must be 17 to 70 years old, with first-time donors accepted up to 60.

• Penang Hospital transfusion department: Jalan Residensi, 10990 Pulau Pinang. Phone 04-222 5160. It is the main centre for collecting, screening and supplying blood for the whole state.
• Sunway Medical Centre Penang also takes donors at its Level 2 laboratory: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm. Phone 04-373 5837 or 04-373 5834.
• Blood drives are announced by the organisers themselves, on their own pages. Penang Hospital's page lists mobile drives among its services but gives no calendar of them.

Whether you can give blood on the day is checked at the counter.

Penang Hospital: the state's blood centre

Penang Hospital's Jabatan Perubatan Transfusi (transfusion medicine department) says it is the main centre for collecting, processing, screening and supplying blood and blood components for the whole of Penang. It supplies blood and blood components to government and private hospitals that have an agreement (MOU) with it.

What it takes: whole blood at the department, blood through mobile campaigns, and apheresis donations of platelets and plasma. It also lists Hepatitis B vaccination for eligible donors, and counselling for donors whose screening result is reactive.

Penang Hospital's page does not say whether the counter opens on public holidays, or whether platelet and plasma donors need an appointment.

Source: Hospital Pulau Pinang, Jabatan Perubatan Transfusi, read 2026-10-14.

Sunway Medical Centre Penang

Sunway Medical Centre Penang publishes its own blood donation service at its Level 2 laboratory.

• Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm; Saturday 9am to 1pm; closed on Sundays and public holidays.
• Phone: 04-373 5837 or 04-373 5834, to ask or to book a donation.
• What it asks of donors: weigh at least 45kg, sleep at least 5 hours the night before, eat a proper meal 4 hours before, drink enough water, and bring your ID card, driving licence or passport. Your last donation should be at least 3 months ago.
• Drives: it says it runs mobile blood donation campaigns with organisations. For a collaboration, it gives 04-373 5834.

Source: Sunway Medical Centre Penang, Blood Bank, read 2026-10-14.

Who can give blood

The Pusat Darah Negara (National Blood Centre, PDN) publishes the national rules. Its A-Z list, last updated in February 2026, says:

• Age: 17 to 70 years old. First-time donors are accepted up to 60. Regular donors over 60 may give up to 70 with a yearly medical check-up (including chest X-ray, ECG and blood tests) or a doctor's letter saying they are fit to donate. Donors aged 17 need written consent from a parent or guardian.
• Antibiotics: wait 2 weeks after the last dose.
• Dengue: wait 6 months after full recovery.
• Acupuncture: wait 3 months.
• Surgery: wait 3 months after minor surgery and 6 months after major surgery.

PDN's general questions page, as published in 2020, adds:

• You should weigh more than 45kg, and tell staff about any medicine you take. In general, taking medicine does not stop you donating; the decision depends on your medical details.
• You fill in a consent form with your medical history, and staff check your blood pressure and a drop of blood for haemoglobin.
• Giving blood takes 7 to 10 minutes, but plan to stay about an hour. 450ml is taken.
• Afterwards, avoid heavy activity for 5 hours and drink plenty of water for 24 hours.
• Plasma is replaced within 24 hours. Red cells take 4 to 8 weeks to be replaced, and you can give again after that.

PDN's A-Z list gives no minimum gap between whole blood donations. Sunway asks that your last donation was at least 3 months ago.

Sources: PDN FAQs, A-Z list and PDN FAQs Umum, read 2026-10-14.

How to find a blood drive

Drives are announced by the hospital or company running them, on their own pages, so the rules and hours vary.

• Northern Heart Hospital Penang has held its blood drives with the Penang Hospital blood bank on Saturdays, at the Event Space, Level 1, Northern Heart Hospital Penang, 9am to 3pm, with free entry. It lists them on its own events page.
• Exabytes held a drive with Penang Hospital at Suntech @ Penang Cybercity. Its page asked donors to be aged 17 to 60, weigh at least 45kg, not have given blood in the last 3 months, and bring an IC or passport. Note that its upper age limit is lower than PDN's.

Sources: Northern Heart Hospital Penang, Blood Donation Drive 2026 and Exabytes Blood Donation Drive 2026, read 2026-10-14.

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