Safe blood for all. 14 June 2019

This year, World Blood Donor Day will once again be celebrated around the world on 14 June. The event serves to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and also to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure that all individuals and communities have access to affordable and timely supplies of safe and quality-assured blood and blood products, as an integral part of universal health coverage and a key component of effective health systems.

Focus of this year’s campaign

The theme of this year’s campaign is blood donation and universal access to safe blood transfusion, as a component of achieving universal health coverage. We have developed the slogan “Safe blood for all” to raise awareness of the universal need for safe blood in the delivery of health care and the crucial roles that voluntary donations play in achieving the goal of universal health.

Host for World Blood Donor Day 2019

The host country for World Blood Donor Day 2019 is Rwanda. The global event will be held in Kigali, Rwanda on 14 June 2019.
The host for the Region of the Americas event will be Costar Rica. [Livestream from 9.00 hrs Eastern Standar Time - EST www.vimeo.com/opstv only in Spanish]

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Who can donate blood

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Key messages

The world needs enough safe blood for everyone in need.
Every few seconds, someone, somewhere, needs blood.
Transfusions of blood and blood products save millions of lives every year.
Health is a human right; everyone in the world should have access to safe blood transfusions, when and where they need them.
Regular blood donations are needed all over the world to ensure individuals and communities have access to safe and quality-assured blood and blood products.
Everyone who can donate blood should consider making regular voluntary, unpaid donations, so that all countries have adequate blood supplies.
Ensuring the safety and well-being of blood donors is critical; it helps build commitment to regular donations.
Access to safe blood and blood product is essential for universal health and a key component of effective health systems.
Blood and blood products are essential to care for: i) women with pregnancy and childbirth associated bleeding; ii)children with severe anaemia due to malaria and malnutrition; iii) patients with blood and bone marrow disorders, inherited disorders of haemoglobin and immune deficiency conditions; iv) people with traumatic injuries in emergencies, disasters and accidents; and-patients undergoing advanced medical and surgical procedures. v) provide quality donor care; vi) promote and implement appropriate clinical use of blood; and vii) oversee the whole chain of blood transfusion.

Health is a human right; everyone in the world should have access to safe blood transfusions, when and where they need them.

What you can do

Everyone

Become a blood donor today and help save lives. Commit to being a regular donor and give blood throughout the year.
Encourage your friends and family to become regular blood donors.
Volunteer with the blood service to reach out to members of your community, provide care to donors, and help manage blood donation sessions/drives.
Find out your blood type and register as a blood donor.
Participate in local World Blood Donor Day events.

Ministries of Health

Organize and participate in activities to celebrate World Blood Donor Day, promoting voluntary unpaid blood donation to the public, across government and to other sectors.
Acknowledge the important role of blood donors in achieving the goal of “safe blood for all” and universal health.
Provide resources and infrastructure to facilitate voluntary blood donation.
Support the development of nationally coordinated blood transfusion services that provide equitable access to safe and quality assured blood transfusions for the whole population.
Put quality assurance systems in place for blood and blood products.
Download and distribute WHO’s World Blood Donor Day materials to health centres.
Speak to media about the importance of blood donation and the successes and challenges of your country in meeting national needs for blood.

National blood transfusion services

Disseminate information about the importance of giving blood.
Print out and distribute posters that you can download from the World Blood Donor Day campaign web site.
Organize a World Blood Donor Day celebration. This could include:◦Inviting prominent politicians, celebrities and sporting heroes to participate;
Producing, displaying and disseminating promotional materials such as t-shirts, caps and stickers.
Holding open days at blood centres and inviting the public to learn about blood donation and transfusion; and ◦organizing blood drives, highlighting the need for year-round donation to maintain adequate blood supplies and achieve universal and timely access to safe blood transfusion.
Improve the infrastructure for blood donation and blood donor care.
Focus attention on donor health and care and provide quality service to blood donors.