Introduction

World Blood Donor Day, a day celebrated each year on June 14 to sensitize and educate the world population about the importance of donating blood, to contribute to the health of patients who require transfusions. The date of this anniversary commemorates the birth of Karl Landsteiner , an Austrian pathologist and biologist who discovered and typified blood groups, which is why he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1930.

World Blood Donor Day is intended to raise awareness about the importance of voluntary blood donation and to highlight the solidarity contribution of voluntary donors, thanks to which the need for safe blood is covered, which allows many people to survive or live better. It is the day paid as a tribute to all the volunteers and to raise awareness of the need to make regular donations to guarantee the quality, safety, and availability of blood and its products.

Italy will host World Blood Donor Day 2021 through its National Blood Center. The global event will take place in Rome on June 14, 2021.

Blood transfusions help save millions of lives each year. They help patients with life-threatening diseases live longer with a better quality of life and enable complex medical and surgical interventions. They also play a vital role in maternal and child care, pregnancy, and emergency responses to natural and man-made disasters.

Services that allow patients to access safe blood and blood products in sufficient quantities are a key component of effective health systems. A sufficient supply can only be ensured by regular voluntary and unpaid donations. However, in many countries, blood services continue to have problems providing sufficient blood and ensuring its quality and safety.

What is a blood transfusion?

A blood transfusion is a medical procedure in which blood is transferred from one person to another to replenish blood components that decrease due to surgery, injury, bleeding disorder or disease (cancer, haemophilia, diabetes, etc.).

Blood has the following blood components:

• Red blood cells: carry oxygen and help remove waste.
• White blood cells: help the body fight infection.
• Plasma: constitutes the liquid part of the blood and serves to transport cells, nutrients, and other elements of the immune system. 
• Platelets: allow adequate blood clotting.

Also, during this Covid-19 outbreak, plasma donation has become very important. 

Donating plasma is donating only the liquid part of the blood, which is made up of water, hormones, minerals, and proteins for the most part. People recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies in their blood plasma that could benefit those who are suffering from the disease. The safety and efficacy of this treatment have not been reliably demonstrated to date.

The plasma donation process is carried out through a procedure called plasmapheresis, this allows the blood to be extracted, separated into its different components, the plasma collected and the rest of the components returned to the donor.

The process of donating plasma by apheresis (plasmapheresis) is very simple, since the donor is connected to a cell separator, the material used is sterile, totally disposable and single-use lasts approximately half an hour and does not present major complications. For the entire duration of the donation, the donor is monitored by a qualified physician and staff.

The Importance of Donating Blood

Donating blood is an altruistic act for which we do not have to have exceptional conditions, only the awareness that it is necessary for someone (or for ourselves since 9 out of 10 people will need it at some point in their life).  A blood donor must feed these requirements:

• Be of legal age (from 18 to 65 years old).
• Be physically healthy.
• With a minimum weight of 50 kilos.
• Not having suffered infectious diseases (HIV-AIDS, Syphilis, Hepatitis, Malaria, among others).
• Not being a drug user.
• You should not be taking antibiotics or certain medications.
• With normal blood pressure.
• No recent tattoos or piercings (previous 4 months).
• Not having undergone a transplant.
• Not having received blood transfusions.
• It is not recommended that pregnant women are donors, since blood is the means of feeding and oxygenating the fetus.
• Not having undergone recent surgical interventions or endoscopies (previous 4 months).

Benefits of donating blood

Few people know the health benefits of altruistic donation. In addition to the satisfaction of helping those in need, donating blood provides you with the following benefits:

• It offers information about our general health status.
• It improves blood flow.
• Helps purify triglycerides.
• Reduces the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular accidents.
• Stimulates the production of new blood cells in the body.
• Balances iron levels in the blood.

2021: “Donate blood so the world keeps beating”

The slogan for the 2021 campaign is “Donate blood so the world keeps beating.“

This campaign aims to highlight the importance of increasing the number of voluntary and unpaid blood donors, especially young people, to save lives and contribute to improving people’s health. Thus, blood donor day comes with a new objective each year.

The objectives of the 2021 campaign are the following:

• Raising awareness in the population about the need to make regular blood donations and thanking volunteer donors from around the world.
• strengthen community solidarity and social cohesion, by promoting the community values ​​of blood donation.
• Encourage the young population to join as voluntary blood donors.
• Strengthen the participation of young people as partners in health promotion.

Let’s work together for World Blood Donor Day

Your participation and support will help ensure a greater impact of World Blood Donor Day 2021, expanding worldwide recognition of blood donation as a lifesaving act of solidarity, and of services that provide blood and safe blood products as essential components of any health care system. 

Kindly share the blog with people around so we can carry out the awareness further. Also, do not forget to comment below on what you did this World Blood Donor Day.

Also Read:

World Environment Day – Reimagine, recreate, restore

Why is Earth Day More Important than Ever?

Importance of being physically fit this World Athletics Day