More blood, more life

“More blood. More life” is the slogan of the 2011 edition of the World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), organized on 14 June each year. The Day, established in 2005 by the World Health Assembly of the United Nations, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), by the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO), and by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS), is intended to “raise awareness on the need of safe blood and its derivates”, explains a communiqué. It is an occasion “to commend million of donors whose altruistic gesture helps save many lives”. Every year a capital city is selected to host the launch of the international campaign in support of national services and blood transfusion, as well as national and local blood donors campaigns and organizations. This year Buenos Aires (Argentina) will host the global launch of World Blood Donor Day. At European level for years the Day has enjoyed the support of the Council of Europe. France, Germany and Sweden, along with Italy, coordinate the 2011 edition. An overview of related initiative follows.Council of Europe. “To meet increasing demands for blood, blood collection services in all European countries must find new ways to recruit and retain donors. Statistics in some countries show increases in the number of young people giving blood, but there is urgent need for improvement”, the CoE explains in a release. The Council of Europe promotes 3 major principles in the area of blood transfusion: the achievement of self-sufficiency, the protection of the health of blood donors and recipients and the non-commercialisation of substances of human origin by voluntary and non-remunerated donation. The European Committee on Blood Transfusion (CD-P-TS) is in charge of this work and represents 35 European countries and 9 observer states as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission (EU). The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) co-ordinates the activities at European level, produces consensus reports aimed at improving practices, international surveys and recommendations to Member States to make improvements to national legislation.France. In the framework of the celebration of the Day on June 14-15 the French Blood Association (EFS) will hold a national ludic-pedagogic event in Paris. Blood collection centres will be set up across the country to encourage citizens to donate their blood. A “”scientific café” in Paris completes the range of dedicated initiatives. Strasbourg, the seat of European Institutions, will welcome visitors at the following address: 1, parc de l’Etoile (Centre administratif) from 10 to 18 hrs, where a blood collection centre will be set up. Info: http://jmds.dondusang.net. Germany. The event will be celebrated at national level in Berlin, during a ceremony in recognition of all blood donors. For the occasion awards will be presented to 80 volunteer blood donors from all over the country, as well as representatives of donor associations. Local events at national level are being scheduled including races. Information on the website of the German Red Cross: www.drk.de.Sweden. The national blood centre organized a ceremony for the presentation of an award to blood donors in Droppen, Nordstan-Göteborg, on June 14. The award was presented for the first time 2002. For the occasion blood-transfusion centres are invited to submit information on noteworthy individuals, organizations, donors or “recruiters”. The candidates’ names will be published on the website of the Centre www.geblod.nu and the winner will be decided after the count-of-votes. On June 14 the website will provide updated information on blood-donation. Italy. Also this year AVIS (Italian Volunteer Association of Blood Donors) will promote “One Nation, One Donation”, a traditional radio program that gives a voice to the donors’ experience with live telephone broadcasts from blood-collection centres set up across the country. Related initiatives are scheduled to take place at national level, these include an original games marathon based on science, health, sport and solidarity promoted by CNS (national blood centre) in Turin. Info: www.avis.it.