Promoting Donor Events
June 14th - World Blood Donor Day
2011 World Blood Donor Theme Set: More blood. More life.
The theme for World Blood Donor Day 2011 is, “More blood. More life.” On 14 June 2011, countries worldwide will celebrate World Blood Donor Day with events to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their lifesaving gifts of blood.
Each year, a host country is identified for a global event that provides the focus for an international publicity campaign. The event is also designed to support national blood transfusion services, blood donor organizations and other nongovernmental organizations in strengthening and expanding their voluntary blood donor programs and to reinforce regional, national and local campaigns.
The 2011 global event will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted by the Government of Argentina. The Pan American Health Organization has provided an electronic link to its WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY site.
http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5271&Itemid=3808&lang=en
Over the coming months, the World Health Organization (WHO) World Blood Donor Day web page (www.who.int/worldblooddonorday) will present more information and promotional materials as well as additional resources in different languages, including details about World Blood Donor Day news and events. You are invited to contribute by sharing your ideas, resource materials and plans for activities through this website.
Paint the World Red
This year, WHO and partners are encouraging communities in every country to join the World Blood Donor Day campaign and “Paint the world red,” whether by symbolically coloring, covering or lighting
monuments, popular landmarks and buildings in red; staging artistic, cultural or musical events with a red-colored theme; or forming a “human blood drop” in prominent public places.
Voluntary Blood Donation Increasing
Today, 62 countries have blood transfusion services based entirely on voluntary blood donation, up from 39 in 2002. In line with the 2009 Melbourne Declaration, which calls on countries to achieve 100 percent voluntary unpaid blood donation by the year 2020, World Blood Donor Day aims to increase blood donation by:
- Creating wider awareness of the vital role of blood transfusion in saving lives and improving the health of millions of people each year
- Motivating more individuals to become regular voluntary unpaid blood donors to ensure sufficient stocks of blood to meet national requirements, even in emergency situations
- Recognizing regular voluntary unpaid donors as public health role models; it is because they lead healthy lifestyles and are regularly screened that they are able to donate blood regularly.
For additional information, contact Deb Swift at dswift@adrp.org or call 512.658.9414.
ADRP will be providing T-Shirts to conference participants announcing this year’s theme and encouraging them to paint the world red.
The T-Shirts were sponsored by Fenwal and designed the Francis Communciations, Inc.
For further information, contact dswift@adrp.org or call 512.658.9414.