World Blood Donor Day today
June 14, 2021
Islamabad : World Blood Donor Day will be marked today (Monday) across the globe including Pakistan to raise awareness of the problem and thank donors worldwide.
Safe blood supplies are a scarce commodity, especially in developing countries. Giving blood is easy and saves lives.
Many events would be arranged around the world on June 14 to mark World Blood Donor Day.
These include football matches, concerts, and mobile blood donation clinics.
In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) called upon communities world-wide to symbolically paint the world red by colouring, covering, or lighting monuments and landmarks.
Despite about 92 million yearly blood donations worldwide, safe blood is constantly in high demand, especially in developing countries.
Despite the challenges they have encountered when it comes to blood collection, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, South African National Blood Service (SANBS) said, on World Blood Donor Day, that the country now has a stable stock of blood in their banks, but more willing blood donors are still needed.
Highlights
Blood shortages are particularly acute in developing countries
New Delhi: World Blood Donor Day is celebrated each year on June 14. The day is observed to raise global awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion. It also stresses on the important role that voluntary, unpaid blood donors make to national health systems.
History of World Blood Donor Day
World Blood Donor Day was first commemorated in 2004 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). June 14 was selected to mark the day as it is on this day that Nobel laureate Karl Landsteiner was born in 1868. Landsteiner was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the ABO blood group system.
The World Health Organisation South-East Asia Region on Sunday said it continued to accelerate action to ensure that everyone, everywhere had timely access to sufficient and secure blood and blood products, and safe transfusion services.