World blood donor day is celebrated every year on 14th June to honor the birthday of Karl Landsteiner who discovered ABO blood group system that made modern transfusion possible. This day is celebrated to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood components, and to thank voluntary non remunerated blood donors for their life saving gift of life.
A day dedicated to recognizing the silent heroes, not those who wear caps, but those whose roll up their sleeves and donate blood— a selfless act of donating blood saves millions of lives each year.
This year’s theme “give blood, give hope: together we save lives” highlights the importance of life changing impact of blood donors, honor’s community and motives both new and regular donors to help save lives. Donors are the backbone of blood banks and to have safe and continuous supply of blood we are dependent on regular voluntary donors. This is the noblest thing one could do for his/her society.
There are many myths about blood donation; here are some tips who can donate blood:
- Age: Healthy adult in the age group of 18 to 60 years. If you are a regular donor you can donate up to 65 years of age.
- Weight: minimum weight requirement is 50 kgs but it varies with the type of blood bag used.
- Hemoglobulin: For safe donation Hb should be more or equal to 12.5 g%.
- Food: you should have taken a good meal 3-4 hours before donation.
- Time duration: For males 3 months gap between donations and for females it’s 4 months gap.
- Get plenty of sleep the night before donation.
- Hydrate yourself.
- Medication history or any other history you need to pay visit to your nearest blood Centre.
The power of blood donation lies not in its quantity but in its intention. Every single act of this charity can save millions of lives. Every year, World Blood Donor Day reminds us that blood is the lifeline — a gift that can neither be neither manufactured nor substituted. It can only come from one human being to another.
In Quran (Surah Al-Ma’idah) verse no 32 Allah (SWT) mentions that “And whoever saves one- it is as if he had saved the lives of all mankind“.
May we continue to uphold the spirit of humanity and health together. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can save lives.
Give blood, give hope: together we save lives!
(Author is Head, Department of transfusion medicine (blood Centre); GMC, Baramulla)
