June 14: World Blood Donor Day

World Blood Donor Day observed every year across the world on June 14 to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. It also seeks to raise awareness of need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for patients in need.
The theme for this year is ‘Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share life’. The host is Greece. The theme highlights importance blood donation as action of solidarity. It also highlights fundamental human values of respect, empathy and kindness associated with unpaid blood donation systems.

Importance of blood donation

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It helps patients suffering from life-threatening conditions to live longer and with higher quality of life. It also supports complex medical and surgical procedures. The blood transfusion also plays essential, life-saving role in maternal and child care and during emergency response to man-made and natural disasters.

Background

The World Blood Donors Day was instituted by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2004 to raise awareness of need for safe bold and blood products and to thank donors. It is one of the eight official global public health campaigns marked by WHO along with World Tuberculosis Day (24 March), World Health Day (7 April), World Malaria Day (25 April), World Immunization Week (last week of April), World No Tobacco Day (31 May), World Hepatitis Day (28 July) and World AIDS Day (1 December).

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2018