World Blood Donor Day 2021- “Celebrating the Gift of Blood”.

The human body functions smoothly due to the vital fluid called blood. Blood is composed of
red blood cells that carry oxygen to the tissues, white blood cells that fight infections and platelets,
and smaller cells that help the blood clot. Now that we know how much of a vital role it plays in
the human body’s functioning, it is crucial to preserve them for all medical emergencies.

World Blood Donor Day – 14th June 2021

A healthy person can donate blood three times a year. It does not take much time for the body
to reproduce the given blood and keep up with the body’s functioning. To thank and celebrate
such people who donate blood for the wellbeing of others. The United Nations has recognized
14th June every year as the World Blood Donor Day.

World Blood Donor Day is recognized as one of the eight official international public health
campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other important days. This
international day is observed by all member states of the World Health Organization (WHO).

World Blood Donor Day – History

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on 14th June every year. This also marks the birth
anniversary of the scientist Karl Landsteiner. He was born on 14th June in the year 1868. We
commemorate the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on International Blood Donor Day as
a tribute to his discovery of the Blood groups A, B and O. The world figured out the different
blood groups and its work on further investigations on this, only post his discovery. This
International Day is used as a platform worldwide to spread awareness of blood and blood
products’ importance, the need for blood donation, and safe blood transfusions.

Objectives of World Blood Donor Day 2021 campaign

• To provide a platform to thank the people who voluntarily donate blood often.

• To encourage individuals who do not donate blood to donate blood regularly.

• To support effect, national blood donor programs and eliminate the dependence on
family and friends.

• To discourage paid blood donation, mostly when there is an acute shortage of blood
when necessary.
• Educate people about the importance of safe blood transfusions and how blood products
are such life saviours.

• To help blood banks to manage sufficient blood supply.

The host for blood Donor Day 2021 event is Italy. The country will host World Blood Donor
Day 2021 through its National Blood Centre. The global event will be in Rome on 14 June 2021.

World Blood Donor Day 2021 Theme

This day all over the world, is used to create awareness of donating blood. Encourage people to
become voluntary unpaid blood donors by going to the nearby free blood donation campaigns
organized by voluntary bodies like NGOs and medical institutes. Theme recognized by the
World Health organization this year is “Celebrating the Gift of Blood”.

World Blood Donor Day 2021 Slogan

For 2021, the World Blood Donor Day slogan will be "Give blood and keep the World beating".
It's a slogan that highlights the essential contribution that blood donors make to keep the world
pulsating. That is by saving lives and improving other's health. It also reinforces the global call
for more people to donate blood regularly. And to contribute to better global health.

World Blood Donor Day 2021 Significance

Blood plays a crucial role in all medical and surgical procedures. Doctors save a million lives
every year by blood transfusion and blood products. It helps patients suffering from life-
threatening illness live longer, and It also provides them with a better quality of life. Blood also
plays a life-saving role in perinatal care. Access to sufficient blood can save many who suffer from
severe blood loss during accidents, bleeding during childbirth and after childbirth. Not many
people volunteer to donate blood due to lack of awareness or sheer ignorance.

The fact that the amount of blood given by them gets regenerated in a matter of a few hours
should be a sufficient reason for a healthy person to donate blood. At the same time, it is also
critical that we pay attention to safety during blood collection. Keeping a check on the safety of
the Blood donor should be of at most priority. Reserving safe blood and blood products can
help save lives. In many countries, there is a struggle to manage the adequate supply of safe blood
and blood services due to a lack of donors, and hence it becomes a challenge to make sufficient
blood available at all times.
Ample blood supply can be ensured only by regular blood donation by Voluntary blood donors.
World Health Organization aims to achieve sufficient blood supply by 2021 with Voluntary
unpaid blood donors’ help. All around the world, around 60 countries manage their national
blood supply by voluntary unpaid blood donors. However, another 70 plus counties still depend
on family and friends for blood donations.

All of us need to understand how critical and essential blood donation is. We have to volunteer
and donate blood as often as possible. It sure will be a life-changing experience when you see
how much of a difference you made in someone’s life by donating blood. Every blood donor is
a HERO. Let’s donate blood and become HERO’s in real!

Mrs. Priyanka Jayakumar

Senior Lecturer

Department of Medical Surgical Nursing

SI-MET College of Nursing, Muttathara.