World Blood Donor Day tomorrow: Kerala governor P Sathasivam to felicitate institutions

On World Blood Donor Day, Kerala governor P Sathasivam will inaugurate the celebrations organised by Terumo Penpol in association with All Kerala Donors Society at Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on 14 June at 10 am, media reports said. Every year, 14 June is honoured as World Blood Donor Day and this year the theme is “What can you do? Give blood. Give now. Give often”. [caption id=“attachment_2660448” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty images[/caption] According to The New Indian Express, institutions like colleges, schools and NGOs will be felicitated by the governor for their contribution towards blood donation. On the occasion, there will be several events including games. The aim of the celebrations is to spread awareness on the importance of donating safe blood and also ensure participation of every individual during emergency situations. In 2016, a report by IANS  says more than 300 people participated in a two-day blood donation awareness programme in New Delhi keeping in mind the scarcity of voluntary blood donors in the country. The programme included lectures, short films on the need for blood donation and other activities. According to the World Heath Organisation (WHO), voluntary, unpaid blood donations must be increased rapidly in more than half the world’s countries in order to ensure a reliable supply of safe blood for patients whose lives depend on it. Only 62 countries get close to 100 percent of their national blood supplies from voluntary, unpaid blood donations, with 34 countries still dependent on family donors and even paid donors for more than 75 percent of their blood supply. Voluntary blood donation is important during the transplant of the surgeries like kidney and liver during the operative procedures. According to NDTV, every pint of blood donated can save more than three lives so if a person begins donating blood at the age of 18 years within a gap of every 90 days until he reaches 60, he would have donated 30 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 500 lives. Despite there being no harmful or even profound effects of blood donation on the body, there is an acute shortfall of more than 2.5 million pints in India. Currently, blood donation shortage is 9 percent, lesser than a 17 percent blood shortage that existed in 2014. With inputs from IANS