- Home
- Informtion
- News
- World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14th
- Home
- Informtion
- News
- World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14th
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14th
11.06.2024
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14th
Every year on June 14th World Blood Donor Day is celebrated. The word “donor” itself comes from the Latin “danare” - to give, because often donors give others not only blood, but also life.
Donation saves thousands of people every day, but every year more and more donor blood is needed. Transfusion of blood components helps prolong life and is an integral part of some surgical procedures during natural disasters and catastrophes. World Blood Donor Day was created to honor people who voluntarily give blood and to attract new donors.
The date for celebrating World Blood Donor Day has been fixed since 2005. Celebrated annually on June 14th.
History of the holiday
On June 14, 2004, the first Donor Day took place, and a year later the holiday was approved at the 58th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, acquiring a permanent date. June 14 was not chosen by chance; on this day the Austrian physician and immunologist Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943) was born, who in 1930 received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of human blood groups.
The initiators of World Donor Day were such significant organizations as the WHO (World Health Organization), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (a humanitarian movement that unites volunteers around the world), the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations and the International Society of Blood Transfusion - all of them encourage people to voluntarily give blood.
Donor Day is intended to draw public attention to the problems of shortage of donor blood due to its diseases.
On this day, it is customary to congratulate and express gratitude to blood donors and encourage those who have not yet decided to join their ranks. With the help of numerous educational lectures held on this day, they increase knowledge in the field of donation, answer questions that arise from those who are just planning to give blood, and draw attention to the provision and maintenance of the necessary blood supplies. During the ceremonial events, honorary donors are also honored (these are people who have given blood 40 or more times or plasma 60 or more times). Particular attention is paid to donor health and ongoing support, as this is an important factor in strengthening their willingness to give blood on an ongoing basis. This day brings together people doing a great and important job, draws public attention to them and the current problems of shortage of donor blood.
By becoming a blood donor you can help:
- adults and children suffering from blood diseases;
- adults and children with cancer
- women in labor with massive blood loss
- people injured in road accidents who received severe injuries and burns
- patients requiring surgical intervention
Becoming a blood donor means changing the life of a sick person for the better.