World Blood Donor Day | 14 June

Today is World Blood Donor Day. Every year World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is celebrated globally on June 14 which is meant for expressing gratitude to all the Blood Donors who save lives by donating their Blood. This day also spread awareness regarding the need of safe blood and blood Product. This event was established in 2004 and since then it is celebrated every year.

World Blood Donor Day is one among the eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The other seven are World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day and World AIDS Day.

The Theme for this World Blood Donor Day (2017) is —

Give blood. Give now. Give often.

This theme is very well presented in this attached video which is released by WHO.

The World Donor Day is celebrated on the Birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner which is 14th of June 1868. He is the first person to distinguished the main blood groups in 1900 and developed the modern system of classification of Blood Groups.

Why we should donate blood? 

Well, I think this is the first question that comes to our mind when we heard the term "Blood Donation".

According to a 2012 World Health Organisation (WHO) report — In India, only 9 million units are collected annually, while the need is for 12 million units.                 Source: Times of India

It means there is still a shortage of 3 million units of Blood.
Whenever someone donates Blood, it is collected by Blood Banks which is used to save someone precious lives.

So don't shy away! Anyone between the age group of 18 to 65, weighing above 45 kgs, and having a haemoglobin level of 12.5 or above can easily donate blood. The blood donated is less than half of the extra blood that your body does not need. You can and should donate blood every three months.

Remember a small drop of your blood can be a hope for someone else. So be a hero and make blood donation your responsibility because there is nothing more beautiful than saving a life.

Recommended Read: Blood Donation FAQs | For First Time Donors