By: Muntazir Mehdi & Faizan Nabi
Every year, on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.
It’s an honor for us to write something on the special day. The preciousness of this day can be imagined by this that it draws our attention to save human lives just by donating a fluid which we can get back by eating healthy diet.
Many of us know that blood donors save lives every day. Every second there may be a patient waiting for a blood transfusion to survive. Blood is one of the most essential fluid of our body that helps in the smooth functioning of our body. If the body loses blood in excessive amounts, people get deadly diseases and even die. Thus, we see how blood donation is literally life-saving which helps people. It is also a sign of humanity that unites people irrespective of caste, creed, religion and more.
In order to raise awareness about this life saving procedure, the world observes 14th of June as Blood Donor Day. It promotes blood donation and inspires people to save lives. People need to know the basics to be able to donate blood. For instance, there are certain criteria one must fulfill to donate blood. Not everyone knows that. Thus, this day helps in doing so. This day also highlights the importance of blood donors and is observed to express gratitude to those who are making this world a better place to live on.
A person eligible to donate blood must fall in the age bracket of 17 to 66 years of age. They must weigh more than 50 kgs and have sound health. People suffering from diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and more cannot donate blood. Yes it’s acceptable that donating blood results in fatigue and weakness of the body. But in the meantime it has many benefits also.
The below mentioned are some of the benefits of donating blood:-
- The blood that we donate helps a person in need. It enhances their health condition and makes them overcome their critical situation.
- Blood donation does not simply help that specific person but also contributes to a responsible gesture towards society.
- Furthermore, it also revitalizes our body for better health.
- A single blood donation helps at least three people in need.
- Blood donation makes the work of blood banks easier. It stabilizes their collection which helps other people get blood urgently.
Other than these benefits blood donation also help us to know about our bodies. As a blood donation requires a preliminary health check up, we get the complete diagnosis.
According to Central Standards Control Organization (CDSCO), India has 2760 licensed blood banks. The assessment exercise 2626 functional blood banks across the country excluding 46 military Blood banks. Around 51% of blood banks in the country have component separation facility. The demand is still higher than the supply in blood banks, so we must donate more and more to help people.
In the minds of the people this question arises that why we should donate blood. For those questions and for those people the answer is.
Your donation is needed because there are no substitutes for blood, platelets or plasma—they cannot be manufactured. Patients in need of blood or blood products must rely on donations from people like us. Those who are hesitant about donating blood for the first time often find that the donation process is easy and that saving lives is deeply gratifying.
There are some facts attached to blood donation which are as:-
- Just one donation can save upto three lives.
- The average red blood cell transfusion is 3 pints.
- More than 1 million people every year are diagnosed with cancer for the first time. Many of them will need blood sometimes daily during chemotherapy.
- More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day.
- Type O-negative whole blood can be transfused to people with any blood type. Lucky are those who have and more lucky are those who donate such type of blood.
Thus we see that blood donation is an important procedure in saving human lives. It is a great initiative that must be encouraged everywhere. Our body does not get affected if we donate blood. The body can repair the loss within a few days. So we must come forward to donate blood as it can make sure the return of a dying man again into the light of life.
