June marks National Blood Donor Month in South Africa, dedicated to recognising blood donors and raising awareness about the importance of donating blood. 

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on Saturday, 14 June under the theme: “Give blood, give hope: together we save lives”, and the campaign aims to acknowledge the efforts of voluntary, unpaid blood donors and to highlight the ongoing need for safe blood and blood products.

“We would like to celebrate the life-changing impact of blood donors and encourage all South Africans to give the gift of life,” said Kroonstad SANBS donor relations Bronwyn Petersen. 

“This year’s campaign calls on all South Africans to raise awareness about the ongoing need for blood platelet and plasma donations, also to encourage regular donations to maintain a sufficient blood supply.”

The goal of this year’s World Blood Donor Day, according to the World Health Organisation, is to:

• guarantee worldwide access to safe blood transfusions and to encourage governments and development partners to support and sustain national blood donation programmes;
• encourage both new and existing donors to give blood regularly in order to maintain a consistent and sufficient blood supply; and
• inform the public about the critical importance of blood and plasma donations and their impact on patients’ lives.

SANBS explains what happens to blood donations: Photo: sanbs.org.za

This year’s theme for World Blood Donor Day is an opportunity and a clarion call to South Africans to commit to donating blood if they are healthy, said Reddy. By giving blood, they will contribute to saving the lives of many patients and give them renewed hope.

In an interview with eNCA, SANBS CEO Ravi Reddy said the blood services metrics and scorecard are to get at least 15 percent of their blood from first-time donors, “the reason for this is to have a sustainable donor base.”

“Some of our regular donors retire because of age, illness, or ill health, some people immigrate, and so about 15 percent of donors don’t come back, and then we need to get more donors.”

The minimum requirements to become a blood donor. Photo: sanbs.org.za

To keep up with the ongoing demand for blood in the healthcare system, SANBS aims to collect a minimum of 3,500 units daily, enough to save as many as 9,000 lives.

“We would like to encourage all blood donors, first-time donors, and the youth to visit your nearest donation site this National Blood Donor Month and give the gift of life,” said Petersen.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame mvh