World Blood Donor Day

Donating blood is called to be a noble act of kindness which can help in saving many lives. It is important for everyone to donate blood at least once in their lives. To promote such a great thought, the world celebrates World Blood Donor Day every year on the 14th of June. By celebrating the occasion, the world spreads the message of blood donations as a social service on the global level.

World Blood Donor Day 2020

World Blood Donor day is globally celebrated with different themes each year. This year, the observation of the occasion is going to be on Sunday. Since it is a holiday, there is a chance of participation of people more than the previous years.

The year 2020 is affected by the pandemic ‘Coronavirus’; there would certainly be some adverse effect of it on the observation of the day. Now it would be interesting to see how people are going to celebrate the day in such a critical time. WHO (World Health Organization) has decided to run a virtual campaign this year due to the pandemic.

The theme for this year is selected ‘Safe Blood Saves Lives’ with the slogan “Give blood and make the world a better place to live”.

History

The World Blood Donor Day is observed every year on the 14th of June as a celebration of the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner. Karl was an Austrian Biologist who is known for discovering the blood groups. He was born on 14th June 1868 and discovered the blood group A, B, AB, and O during 1900. The occasion is hosted by WHO.

The World Blood Donor Day was celebrated for the first time in the year 2004. Since then, the day is observed every year, making blood donation a global habit for all. The day is observed every year with a new theme set by the World Health Organization.

Celebration/Activities

There are various programmes organized as a celebration on occasion. The most important of them is the conduct of Blood Donation Camps by the medical institutions and organizations. The objective of running these camps is to motivate people towards blood donation and telling them its benefits.

In schools and colleges, there is a class held for educating children towards blood donation. Also, they are told to donate their blood when they are eligible for it.

An awareness campaign is also run by people on various social media platforms. These social media campaigns are mainly run to educate about the latest information regarding blood donation and sharing some useful and motivational stories related to it. These motivational stories help in increasing the number of volunteer blood donors. Arranging some meetings on the topic, conducting public lectures, and publishing various articles are some other methods to motivate people towards blood donation.

Objectives and Significance

Since we all know that blood donation is a need of the time and situation as there is more demand for blood than the supply, the observation of World Blood Donor Day is aimed at inspiring people globally for it. There are many people and also many societies where blood donation is considered to be taboo due to a lack of information and awareness. So the observation of the occasion can at least update them with the information and help in deleting myths from their mind.

The human blood is an important organ to be donated, even without any complication, and this is the message that is to be conveyed on the World Blood Donor Day. As a responsible human, it is our duty on World Blood Donor Day to make people aware of the benefits of blood donation and inspire them to contribute to such a noble cause. By increasing the number of volunteer blood donators, we can meet the excess need for blood.

Themes of World Blood Donor Day

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) proposes different themes for the celebration of World Blood Donor Day, we have noted below themes of some previous year’s celebration of World Blood Donor Day:

  • The theme for 2020 – Safe Blood Saves Lives
  • The theme for 2019 – Safe Blood for all
  • The theme for 2018 – Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share life
  • The theme for 2017 – Give blood. Give now. Give often
  • The theme for 2016 – Blood Connects us all
  • The theme for 2015 – Thank You for Saving y Life
  • The theme for 2014 – Safe Blood for Saving Mothers
  • The theme for 2013 – Give the Gift of Life: Donate Blood
  • The theme for 2012 – Every Blood Donor is a Hero
  • The theme for 2011 – More Blood More Life
  • The theme for 2010 – New Blood for the World

Who can Donate Blood?

Blood donation is for all, irrespective of age, religion, region, caste, colour, and other differences. It is beneficial for the donor as well as the receiver, though there are some conditions to be followed by the donors.

  • The donor should have achieved the legal age for blood donation. The age in India is 18 years.
  • He/she should be healthy and free from any transmittable disease.
  • There should be a gap of 56 days between two consecutive blood donations by a person.
  • There is also a specific bodyweight decided for different ages of people.
  • A woman who is breastfeeding her child, should not go for blood donation.
  • A person with low age criteria should donate blood with the consent of their parents.
  • There are some other criteria fixed by the nations individually for their people which decide their eligibility for donating blood.

Some Statistics

Here are some data related to blood donation in the world.

  • The children under the age of 5 and people over the age of 60 falls in the category of highest demand for blood.
  • Around 90% of the population eligible to donate blood does not go for it.
  • The blood donation at a time by a person can save three lives.
  • Around 40% of the demand for blood in India is still waiting for a donor.
  • The blood donation is higher in High-Income Countries.
  • There are more than 3000 blood banks across India at present times.
  • Though the number of blood donors has increased in the past few years, there is still a gap to meet the demand and supply of blood. This is because of increased blood demand then the supply.

Health Benefits of Blood Donation

The act of blood donation is like saving a life. As the receiver is benefitted under blood donation, there are several health benefits that blood donation brings for the donor as well. The unnecessary store of iron in our body causes various harmful diseases. The blood donation saves from it and balances the amount of iron in our body.

Blood donation keeps our heart healthy and also saves us from various cardiovascular diseases. It is significantly helpful in reducing the risk of a heart attack. Even the donor stays safe from the risk of cancer. Burning calories is another benefit of regular blood donation.

While donating the blood, it is first tested by the doctors so we come to know about our health-related problem if there is any.

Apart from these, the act of donating blood saves millions of lives and gives happiness to the people belonging to their families. This is an act of pride which we must have in our lives.

Conclusion

Since blood donation is a global activity that every nation needs to work on, it significantly increases the importance of World Blood Donor Day. As responsible citizens, we all should pledge for donating blood regularly. Blood Donation is for us and our people; we should never skip when we have a chance for blood donation. World Blood Donor Day is for all, and we all should go for it at least once in our lives.