World Blood Donor Day

World Blood Donor Day
Observed by All member states of the World Health Organization
Date 14 June
Next time 14 June 2017 (2017-06-14)
Frequency annual

Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day.[1]

Background

A donor's arm at various stages of donation. The two photographs on the left show a blood pressure cuff being used as a tourniquet.

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live longer and with higher quality of life, and supports complex medical and 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 childbirth.[2]

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 WHO’s 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 and paid donors.[3]

History

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year by the people in many countries around the world on 14 June. World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on the day of birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on 14 June 1868.[4]

World Blood Donor Day celebration brings a precious opportunity to all donors for celebrating it on national and global level as well as to commemorate the birthday anniversary of the Karl Landsteiner (a great scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his great discovery of the ABO blood group system).[5]

2015: Thank you for saving my life

It emphasizes thanking of blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and inspires more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.” This year campaign pays attention to stories from people whose lives have been saved through blood donation. Activities include memorable events, meetings, publication of relevant stories on media, scientific conferences, publication of articles on national, regional and international scientific journals, and other activities that would help in encouraging the title of this year’s World Blood Donor Day.[6] The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2015 is China through its blood center in Shanghai,[7] Shanghai Blood Centre, also the WHO Collaborating Center for Blood Transfusion Services.[8]

2014: Safe blood for saving mothers

The focus of the WBDD 2014 campaign was “Safe blood for saving mothers”. The goal of the campaign was to increase awareness about why timely access to safe blood and blood products is essential for all countries, as part of a comprehensive approach to prevent maternal deaths.

According to the World Health Organization, 800 women die every day from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. Severe bleeding is the cause of 34% of maternal deaths in Africa, 31% in Asia and 21% in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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

2013: Give the gift of life

The focus for the WBDD 2013 campaign – which marked the 10th anniversary of World Blood Donor Day – was blood donation as a gift that saves lives. The WHO encouraged all countries to highlight stories from people whose lives have been saved through blood donation, as a way of motivating regular blood donors to continue giving blood and people in good health who have never given blood, particularly young people, to begin doing so.

The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2013 was France. Through its national blood service, the Etablissement Français du Sang (EFS), France has been promoting voluntary non-remunerated blood donation since the 1950s.

2012: Every blood donor is a hero

The 2012 campaign focused on the idea that any person can become a hero by giving blood. Blood cannot yet be manufactured artificially, so voluntary blood donation remains vital for healthcare worldwide. Many anonymous blood donors save lives every day through their blood donations.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Campaigns." World Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Safe blood for saving mothers." WHO. 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Blood safety and availability." WHO Fact sheet N° 279. June 2013. Accessed 8 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Karl Landsteiner - Biographical". Novelprize.org. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "World Blood Donor Day". IndiaCelebrating.com. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "2015 World Blood Donor Day". World Health Organization. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "World Blood Donor Day 2015: Thank you for saving my life". Shanghai Blood Center. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "2015 World Blood Donor Day". World Health Organization. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
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