The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14, and the theme of this year’s campaign is “Thank you for saving my life.” The campaign is focused in thanking blood donors who save lives every day through their donations and encourage more people around the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly, with the slogan ” Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.” This year’s theme aims to rescue stories of people whose lives have been saved through blood donation as a way to encourage regular blood donors to continue to donate and motivate healthy people who have never donated to start doing so.
Blood and blood products transfusions save lives and improve health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood. The need for blood transfusions can occur at any time in rural and urban areas. The unavailability of blood may lead to death and ill health. The availability of safe and adequate blood should be part of the countries’ national policy and health infrastructure.
Scientific and Technical Literature
BIREME/PAHO/WHO selected scientific and technical literature from the Virtual Health Library (VHL) on the topics of the World Blood Donor Day 2015.