“Donating Blood is an Act of Togetherness” – World Blood Donor Day 2022

Every year on June 14th, World Blood Donor Day is commemorated. The Day was established to raise global awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion, to highlight the important role that voluntary, unpaid blood donors play in national health systems, and to assist national blood transfusion services, blood donor organizations, and other nongovernmental organizations in strengthening and expanding their voluntary blood donor programs by reinforcing national and local campaigns.
 
The day also serves as a call to action for governments and national health authorities to allocate sufficient resources to increase the collection of blood from unpaid volunteers and to manage access to blood and transfusions for those who require it.

 
Patients with blood and bone marrow disorders, inherited hemoglobin disorders, and immune deficiency conditions; victims of trauma, emergencies, disasters, and accidents; and patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures all require blood and blood products. Although there is a universal need for blood, not everyone has access to it. In low- and middle-income countries, blood shortages are particularly severe.
 
All governments require frequent, unpaid blood donors to ensure that everyone who requires a transfusion has access to safe blood. When there is a surge in demand for blood or when the normal operation of blood services is disrupted, an effective blood donor program with widespread and active participation of the population is critical in meeting the need for blood transfusions during peacetime as well as during emergencies or disasters.

 
While an appropriate social and cultural environment with strong solidarity supports the creation of an efficient blood donor program, it is commonly accepted that blood donation contributes to the formation of social relationships and the formation of a united community.
 
"Donating blood is an act of togetherness," says the World Blood Donor Day tagline for 2022. "Join the effort and save lives" is a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of volunteer blood donations in saving lives and strengthening community bonds. The specific objectives of this year's campaign are to thank blood donors around the world and raise public awareness about the importance of regular, unpaid blood donation, to highlight the need for committed, year-round blood donation, to maintain adequate supplies and achieve universal and timely access to safe blood transfusion, to recognize and promote the values of voluntary unpaid blood donation in enhancing community solidarity and social cohesion, and to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation in enhancing community solidarity and social cohesion, and to raise awareness.

 
For this year's campaign, countries around the world are encouraged to distribute stories of people whose lives have been saved through blood donation to various media outlets as a way of motivating regular blood donors to continue giving blood, as well as motivating people in good health who have never given blood to do so.
 
Donor appreciation ceremonies, social networking campaigns, special media broadcasts, social media posts featuring individual blood donors with the slogan, meetings and workshops, musical and artistic events to thank blood donors and celebrate solidarity, and coloring iconic monuments red are some of the other activities that could help promote the slogan of this year's World Blood Donor Day. Your participation and support will help to guarantee that World Blood Donor Day 2022 has a bigger impact, raising awareness that giving blood is a life-saving act of solidarity and that services that provide safe blood and blood products are an important part of every health-care system. At all levels, interested partners are encouraged to participate in order to make World Blood Donor Day 2022 a global success.

[Photos: Thalassemia International Federation]