Medical Association organising blood drive to mark World Blood Donor day

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Medical Association, in collaboration with the staff of the blood bank at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), will host a special blood donor drive on Saturday, June 11 and again on June 18, 2022.

In a release, the Association said the drive which will run from 9:00 a.m – 1:00 p.m at the Out Patient Department of the hospital is to both raise awareness of the need for blood donation and receive blood donors at the blood bank.

It is being held in recognition of World Blood Donor Day which is observed on June 14 each year.

“It serves to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gift of blood and to raise global awareness of the ongoing need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion,” the Association’s release states of World Blood Donor Day.

“The day also serves to highlight the essential contribution that blood donors make to national health care – which is important in saving lives and improving other’s health”.

The Medical Association said the general public is invited to actively participate in these events, “as our Blood Bank is always in need of donors. There are always patients who are in need of life-saving blood”.

Additional, the blood drive aims “to rebuild our Registry of regular, committed donors so that the Blood Bank is kept in full readiness year-round, to maintain adequate supplies and achieve timely access for any eventuality – such as emergencies and disasters to which our country is so vulnerable”.

Eligible donors must be 17 of age or over and weigh more than 110 pounds. Persons will be medically evaluated to decide if they can be an immediate donor or they may arrange to return at a later date, “because that one pint of blood can be a lifesaver to as many as three persons”, the Association said.

It acknowledged with thanks persons who have been regular donors over the years, and is encouraging the youth to embrace the humanitarian call to action to donate blood and inspire others to do the same.

For 2022, the World Blood Donor Day slogan of the World Health Organisation (WHO), is “Give blood and keep the World beating”. It is based on an initiative developed by the WHO, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Organisations and initiated for the first time in 2005 to raise awareness of donating blood.

Giving Blood is a life-saving act of kindness and solidarity- and every drop counts!