World Blood Donor Day: Sharing love, giving life

ABO/NDO- The World Health Organisation chose the theme of World Blood Donor Day (June 14) as “Give blood, give plasma, share life, and share often”, to call for people to participate in blood donation regularly, including plasma.

Every year, the world has millions of people volunteering to donate blood, contributing to bringing priceless lives to the sick. To acknowledge and express gratitude for that noble act, the World Health Organisation designated June 14 as World Blood Donor Day in 2005. This is also the birthday of scientist Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO blood group, opening a new era of blood transfusion safety.

Along with blood cells, plasma is also an important component in blood, containing mainly water and many substances that are essential for the development and metabolism of the body.

Illustrative image.

In the global event to celebrate World Blood Donor Day on June 14, 2017, hosted by Vietnam, the Dutch blood donor record holder also attended who donated blood for 641 times, including 415 donations of plasma. In Vietnam, plasma donation has not been widely deployed compared to platelet donation, but it is a trend in the hematology-transfusion sector.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ha Thanh, Director of the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said that now people have had a fundamental change in awareness about blood donation. Blood donation has become an act and a noble gesture performed regularly by everyone, from all walks of life and with the participation of the Party and government agencies.

Vietnam has organised activities in response to World Blood Donor Day since 2007, to honour the noble deeds of blood donors.

The whole country received more than 1.4 million blood units in 2022, basically meeting the blood demand for emergency and patient treatment. The rate of voluntary blood donation reached 99%, while the blood donation rate is nearly 1.5%.

(Source: NDO)