Daily Times

Like other parts of the globe, World Blood Donor Day was also celebrated in Pakistan on Tuesday to raise awareness about the need for safe blood and blood products and also to thank blood donors for their life-saving noble act.

Various activities were arranged to observe the day by public and private organizations with an objective to educate the people about the importance of donating blood. An awareness seminar was also arranged at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

The day was created to support national blood transfusion services, blood donor organizations, and other non-governmental organizations in strengthening and expanding their voluntary blood donor programmes by reinforcing national and local campaigns. Donating blood is essential for saving lives and it also offers an array of physical and mental health benefits to the donor.

According to health experts, any healthy adult, both male and female, can donate blood. They added men can donate safely once in every three months while women can donate every four months “Blood and blood products are important for effective management of women suffering from various diseases including with pregnancy and childbirth, children suffering from severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition, patients with blood and bone marrow disorders, inherited disorders of haemoglobin and immune-deficiency conditions, victims of trauma, emergencies, disasters and accidents, as well as patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures.

The need for blood is universal, but access to blood for all those who need it is not. Blood shortages are particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries,” according to World Health Organization.

The World Blood Donor Day slogan for the year 2022 is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives” in order to draw attention to the roles that voluntary blood donations play in saving lives and enhancing solidarity within communities.

World Blood Donor Day was established in 2004 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring awareness to the ongoing need for blood donations to save lives. June 14 also marks the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1930 for his work in classifying blood types. It was his work that revolutionized blood transfusions and led to the practice of transfusing blood between people with compatible blood types.