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’‘Give the gift of life: Donate blood’

FM Bureau | 01-June-2014

Detailed News

World Blood Donor Day is observed on June 14 every year to create awareness about the importance of voluntary unpaid blood donation in all countries   

By FM Bureau

World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Day is observed on June 14 every year. It is an occasion to raise awareness about the cause of blood donation worldwide.  

Despite about 92 million yearly blood donations worldwide, safe blood is constantly on high demand, especially in the developing countries. World Blood Donor Day falls on the birthday of Karl Landsteiner (June 14, 1868) who created the ABO blood group system, which is still used to ensure the safety of blood transfusions.

The campaign emphasizes the need for safe blood and blood products and also thanks voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.      

With the slogan “Give the gift of life: donate blood”, this year’s campaign, the 10th anniversary of World Blood Donor Day, will focus on the value of donated blood to the patient, not only in saving life but also in helping them live longer.

Millions of lives saved

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live longer with higher quality of life, and supports complex surgical procedures. It also has an essential, life-saving role in maternal and perinatal care. Access to safe and sufficient blood and blood products can help reduce rates of death and disability due to severe bleeding during delivery and after.

In many countries, there is not an adequate supply of safe blood, and blood services face the challenge of making sufficient blood available, while also ensuring its quality and safety.

An adequate supply can only be assured through regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors. The goal is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors by 2020. In 2014, 60 countries have their national blood supplies based on 99-100% voluntary unpaid blood donations, with 73 countries still largely dependent on family donors and paid donors.

The global host for the WBDD 2014 event is Sri Lanka. Through its national blood transfusion service, Sri Lanka has been promoting voluntary unpaid donation to increase access to safe and sufficient blood and blood products.

Some of blood donor agencies