2008 World Blood Donor Day: JUNE 14

Announcing World Blood Donor Day, 14 June 2008

On 14 June 2008, World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) will again be celebrated throughout the world to

create wider awareness of the need for safe blood for transfusion and the importance of blood

donation, and to thank blood donors for their gift of blood. World Blood Donor Day was designated

as an annual event by the ministers of health of all WHO Member States at the World Health

Assembly in 2005. Each year, the number of countries that organize WBDD events increases,

with activities now being held in the majority of countries. High-level commitment and support by

government leaders, royalty and celebrities, coupled with media campaigns and community-based

activities, unite the world in a celebration of the selfless individuals who donate their blood to save

the lives and improve the health of people whom they will never meet.

World Blood Donor Day focuses on the lifesaving gift of voluntary unpaid blood donors who donate

blood purely for altruistic reasons. As more and more countries achieve the goal of 100 per cent

voluntary donation, there is growing appreciation of the vital role of voluntary unpaid donors who

give blood on a regular basis. Regular donors are the safest blood donors and they are also the

foundation of sustainable national blood supplies that are sufficient to meet the needs of all patients

requiring transfusion. Retaining suitable blood donors should be a high priority for every country.

In 2008, the theme of World Blood Donor Day will be “Giving Blood Regularly” to support national

blood donor programmes in building a stable base of voluntary unpaid donors who make a longterm

commitment to blood donation. Slogans such as “Many Happy Returns” and “Once Is Not

Enough” can be used to highlight the theme and emphasize the importance of regular donation by

eligible donors in enabling blood collection to be planned to meet national requirements for specific

blood groups and blood components and thus ensure access to safe blood transfusion when

needed.

The dedication of World Blood Donor Day 2008 to regular blood donors has three broad objectives:

To create wider public awareness of the need for regular donation because of the short shelf-life
To promote recognition that regular voluntary unpaid donors are healthy individuals and are
To focus attention on donor health and the quality of donor care as critical factors in building United Arab Emirates under the direct patronage of (www.wbdd.org) and the WHO webpage (www.who.int/worldblooddonorday) contain a World Blood Donor Day brochure and poster as

http://www.who.int/bloodsafety

International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations

http://www.fiods.org

International Society of Blood Transfusion

http://www.isbt-web.org

http://www.ifrc.org/what/health/blood