World Blood Donor Day: What can you do to help donate and raise awareness

Every year, on June 14, around the globe World Blood Donor Day is celebrated. The day's purpose is to raise awareness of the necessity for safe blood donations, safe blood products, and to thank all blood donors for their life-saving and selfless gift of blood.

Blood is vital for many planned and urgent medical treatments and life-saving interventions. Blood is essential during maternal and perinatal care.

What can I do to help donate blood and raise awareness?

Thanks to the World Health Organization (WHO), they have outlined what you can do to help:

+ 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.

Requirements to give blood

According to WHO, the following are the requirements to give blood:

Age: between 18 and 65 (** Age may vary by country)

Weight: at least 50 kg (110 lbs) (** Weight may vary by country)

Health: Must be in a good health condition at the time of blood donation.

+ Cannot donate blood if you are sick: cold, flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach bug, or any other infection.

+ Cannot donate blood for the 6 months after the date of a tattoo or body piercing procedure. If the body piercing was performed by a registered health professional and inflammation has settled completely, you can donate blood after 12 hours.

+ Cannot donate for the 24 hours following any minor dental procedure or one month following any major dental procedure.

+ Cannot donate if you do not meet the minimum hemoglobin level for blood donation - a test will be given at the donation site.

Travel: Travel to locations where mosquito-borne infections are endemic, e.g. malaria, dengue and Zika virus infections, may result in a temporary deferral. (** Travel limitations may vary by country)

Behaviors: Must not give blood: (** Prohibited behaviors may vary by country)

+ If you have engaged in “at risk” sexual activity in the past 12 months
+ Individuals with the following behaviors will be deferred permanently: Have ever had a positive test for HIV (AIDS virus) or Have ever injected recreational drugs.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: Following pregnancy, the deferral period should last as many months as the duration of the pregnancy. It is not advisable to donate blood while breast-feeding. Following childbirth, the deferral period is at least 9 months (as for pregnancy) and until 3 months after your baby is significantly weaned (i.e. getting most of his/her nutrition from solids or bottle feeding).

For more information, reference the WHO page here.

Have you donated blood?

Do you participate in any activities to raise awareness?