World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is celebrated every year on June 14th. It is a worldwide event celebrating and thanking the voluntary unpaid donors who donate their blood, but also raising awareness of how important blood donation is to provide safe blood and blood products.
Blood is vital. The provision of safe blood is required not only for emergency interventions or treating the wounded e.g. in armed conflicts, natural disasters or accidents, but also for planned treatments, complex medical procedures and surgeries as well as providing those with life-threatening chronic conditions with a better quality and often longer life. Blood is required all year round to provide adequate supplies of safe blood for transfusion. Since the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic in late 2019/early 2020, blood donations have become trickier and in shorter supply. Therefore, now more than ever blood donations are required to ensure the safe and adequate blood supplies to maintain the function of health systems across the globe.
The theme of this year’s WBDD is “Safe blood saves lives”, encouraging you to “Give blood and make the world a healthier place”. For more information about the life saving power of blood donation and/or to find out how you can become involved in advocating for universal access to safe blood transfusion and its role in the provision of effective health care then please visit the World Health Organisation website: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-blood-donor-day/2020 Blood donations are also essential for biomedical research, for example in the development of advanced therapeutic cell products which are being developed as life-saving treatments for chronic conditions such as cancer and rare genetic diseases. Blood donation extends beyond the immediate, as a blood donor you can have a lasting and lifesaving impact on a persons’ life, ranging from emergency interventions to future lifesaving drug treatments. RESTORE encourages everyone tobe lifesavers by regularly donating blood at their local donation station.