Give blood for those who give life

Transfusion of blood and blood products helps save millions of lives every year. It can help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions live longer and with a higher quality of life and can support complex medical and surgical procedures. It also has an essential, life-saving role in maternal and perinatal care.
However, in many countries, there is an inadequate supply of safe blood and blood services face the challenge of making sufficient blood available while also ensuring its quality and safety. There is a marked difference in the level of access to safe blood between high- and low-income countries.
An adequate supply of safe blood can only be assured through regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors. These donors are the safest group of donors as the prevalence of bloodborne infections is lowest among this group.
In order to create wider awareness throughout the world about the need for availability and appropriate use of safe blood and blood products and the need for many more people to make a commitment to regular voluntary unpaid blood donation, World Blood Donor Day was observed on June 14, 2014 around the world. The focus of this year's World Blood Donor Day campaign was Safe blood for saving mothers.
Every day, about 800 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Almost all of these deaths occur in developing countries. The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under 15 years of age.
Severe bleeding during delivery or after childbirth is the commonest cause of maternal mortality and contributes to around 34% of maternal deaths in Africa, 31% in Asia and 21% in Latin America and the Caribbean. Severe bleeding during delivery and after childbirth is a major cause of mortality, morbidity and long-term disability.
Blood transfusion has been identified as one of the nine key life-saving interventions for the management of pregnancy-related complications as part of a comprehensive approach to maternal and newborn care that should be available in all facilities providing comprehensive emergency obstetric care.
In 2014, more than 40 years after the first World Health Assembly resolution addressed the issue of blood safety, equitable access to safe blood and blood products and the rational and safe use of blood transfusion still remain major challenges throughout the world; and many patients requiring transfusion, particularly mothers and children in developing countries, do not have timely access to safe blood.
World Health Organisation recommends that every country should put in place policies, systems and structures to ensure the safety, quality, accessibility and timely availability of blood and blood products to meet the needs of all patients who require transfusion. Policies should be supported by appropriate legislation to promote uniform implementation of standards and consistency in the quality and safety of blood and blood products. All activities related to blood collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution should be coordinated at the national level through effective organisation and management.
Along with policy in place, we people from all walks of life should actively engage ourselves in blood donation at regular interval. It does not generally pose any health risk and indeed a noble act of service to the humanity.

Source: World Health Organisation