Donate blood to save lives!

Today, June 14, is observed worldwide as World Blood Donor Day.

The day is marked with events to raise awareness on the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.

The theme for the 2012 World Blood Donor Day campaign, “Every blood donor is a hero”, focuses on the idea that every one of us can become a hero by giving blood.

While recognizing the silent and unsung heroes who save lives every day through their blood donations, the theme also strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly.

The everyday blood donors respond to an immediate need, whatever the conditions, despite inconvenience, putting the needs of others above their own.

Voluntary blood donors come from all walks of life, all regions, backgrounds, religions and ages for the sake of humanity.

By choosing to donate blood without getting paid, these individuals commit an “heroic” act, a gesture of human solidarity with the power to save lives. Some of them do so dozens of times over several decades.

We therefore salute all blood donors in the country, and elsewhere in the world for the selfless sacrifice and love for humanity.

We use the opportunity to encourage all, especially the healthy men and women to consider donating blood to the blood banks in our various health facilities.

As the saying goes: the life you safe may be your own.

We encourage the National Blood Transfusion Service to continue recruiting regular blood donors, both at the village and regional level, and to accelerate the establishment of blood transfusion facilities capable of covering the entire country.

For there to be an effective and efficient national blood transfusion system in place, the government and the private sector have to provide adequate logistics to enable them to contact patients, in order to ensure fast distribution of blood and blood products to all health facilities.

Formation of more voluntary blood donor associations all over the country should be encouraged and the donors, especially regular blood donors, be recognised for saving lives.

We call on the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to appoint blood donor ambassadors in the regions, as this will make their work easy.