World Blood Donors Day 2018 observed globally

14 June: World Blood Donors Day

The World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) was observed across the world on June 14, 2018 with an aim to to express gratitude to voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations.

Facts related to blood safety, blood availability and blood transfusion

• Of the 112.5 million blood donations collected globally, around half of these are collected in high-income countries, constituting 19 percent of the world’s population.

• In low-income countries, up to 65 percent of blood transfusions are given to children under 5 years of age; whereas in high-income countries, the most frequently transfused patient group is over 65 years of age.

• Based on samples of 1000 people, the blood donation rate is 32.1 donations in high-income countries, 14.9 donations in upper-middle-income countries, 7.8 donations in lower-middle-income countries and 4.6 donations in low-income countries.

• 126 countries have national guidelines on the appropriate clinical use of blood.

• 57 countries collect 100 percent of their blood supply from voluntary, unpaid blood donors.

• Only 51 of 180 reporting countries produce Plasma-Derived Medicinal Products (PDMP) through the fractionation of plasma collected in the reporting country.

When was the day proclaimed?

The World Blood Donors Day was established in 2004 to raise awareness of the need for safe bold and blood products, and to thank donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.

It is one of the eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO) along with:
• World Tuberculosis Day (24 March)
• World Health Day (7 April)
• World Immunization Week (last week of April)
• World Malaria Day (25 April)
• World No Tobacco Day (31 May)
• World Hepatitis Day (28 July)
• World AIDS Day (1 December)