World Blood Donor Day : 14th June

Millions of people around the world owe their lives to individuals they will never meet – people who donate their blood to help others. But millions more still can’t get safe blood when they need it. World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on June 14 every year, provides a unique opportunity to thank those very special people that help and to raise awareness about the need for more support.
Established by the World Health Assembly, this day marks the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, the Nobel laureate who discovered the ABO blood group system. There is broad international support to raise awareness of the need for safe blood around the world and encourage eligible individuals to donate blood regularly so that blood is readily available for all who need it when required.
The global theme for 2009 - achieving 100 per cent non-remunerated donation of blood and blood components, places a renewed emphasis on improving the safety and sufficiency of blood supply. As more and more countries achieve the goal of 100 per cent voluntary non-remunerated blood donation, there is growing appreciation of the vital role of voluntary donors who donate blood on a regular basis. Not only are they the safest blood donors, they are also the foundation of sustainable national blood supplies that are sufficient to meet the needs of all patients requiring blood and blood components.
The focus of this theme is the use of innovative approaches to community participation to increase voluntary blood donation, maintenance of a stable pool of regular voluntary donors and establishing or expanding blood component programmes based on hundred percent voluntary non-remunerated donation to achieve self-sufficiency.

One world, one blood Club 25

Club 25 is a youthful concept, promoting the value of saving lives by giving blood. Through Club 25 young people are encouraged to attend a blood centre, learn about healthy lifestyles and to give blood regularly, aiming for about 20 blood donations by age of 25 years. They also share what they have learned with their communities through health promotion activities to prevent HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and other health risk behaviours; in addition there are opportunities to be active in promoting first aid, good nutrition, physical exercise and road safety.

Club 25 is a youthful concept, promoting the value of saving lives by giving blood. Thousands of young people all over the world are taking part in Club 25 activites.

In march 2006, 223 people from 66 different countries and 46 National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent attended the 10th International Colloquium on the recruitment of voluntary, non-renumerated blood donors in Santiago (Chile). Participants discussed ways of building quality into donor recruitment strategies. They presented communication and education tools used to scale up the impact of voluntary, non-renumerated blood donation around the world, particularly focused in Latin America. Two workshops were hosted to explore possibilities for the creation of so-called Club 25 Programmes, and the establishment of international networks between young people involved in various Club 25 Programmes around the world.

More on Club 25