DONATE BLOOD; THE LIFE YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN

Beginning in 2005, June 14 has been marked as World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) in commemoration of the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on June 14, 1868.

An Austrian biologist, physician and immunologist – and generally acknowledged as “the father of transfusion medicine” – Karl Landsteiner was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physiology-cum-Medicine for his discovery of the types A, B, O and AB blood groups system.

The human body functions smoothly due to the vital fluid called blood. This is composed of red blood cells that carry oxygen to body tissues, and white blood cells that fight infections, as well as platelets and smaller cells that help the blood clot.

From the foregoing, it is clear that blood plays a vital role in the proper functioning of the living body – and, as such, it is crucial to keep the blood healthy and functioning at all times.

This is, therefore, basically why – acting jointly and in close cooperation with each other – the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross Society and the Red Crescent Society sought to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products. This would also provide an opportunity to thank blood donors for the voluntary, life-saving gifts of their precious blood.

But, World Blood Donor Day is only one of eleven official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organisation.

The other ten are: the World Health Day; the World Chagas Disease Day; the World Tuberculosis Day; the World Patient Safety Day; the World Malaria Day; the World ‘No Tobacco’ Day; the World Hepatitis Day; the World AIDS Day; the World Immunisation Week, and the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.

Indeed, the transfusion of blood and blood products helps to save millions of lives every year, making patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live that much longer, usually doing so with a relatively higher quality of life.

Serious ailments

Transfusion also supports complex medical and surgical procedures for patients with serious ailments or other conditions, such as in maternal and perinatal care, where it plays an essential, life-saving role.

Ready access to safe and sufficient blood and blood products can, therefore, immensely help to reduce the rates of death and/or disability that may result in severe bleeding during delivery and after childbirth.

When all is said and done, blood donation that is timely and otherwise properly administered can be crucial in saving lives, as well as serious further injury that may result in some sort of physical and/or mental disability.

Blood is, therefore, a necessary resource for the planned treatments and the urgent interventions needed to save human lives and possible disabilities.

Now that we know how much of a vital role it plays in the human body’s functioning, it is crucial to have the right kind of blood safely ready for transfusion in all medical emergencies – and, preferably, collected free of payment from voluntary donors and family or very close relatives.

Humanity must, therefore, be thankful to blood donors and the creators of the World Blood Donor Day, whose theme this year is “Celebrating the Gift of Blood”.