The Pan American Health Organisation is calling for solidarity following a twenty percent drop in blood donations in Latin America and the Caribbean during first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
World Blood Donor Day, established by the World Health Organisation in 2005, is celebrated every June 14th.
It is held to highlight the importance of the availability of safe and sufficient blood and blood products for all, and to thank voluntary, repetitive and unpaid donors for their act of solidarity.
This year’s theme is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity”.
In a media release on Wednesday, PAHO said in 2020, 8.2 million units of blood were collected, benefiting more than one million people in need of a transfusion.
However, in many countries, demand for blood outstrips supply, and blood services face the challenge of ensuring the availability of safe, quality blood and blood products.
It said to prevent shortages and ensure safety; PAHO recommends that one hundred percent of blood and blood component donations come from voluntary and regular donors, and that family or friends of patients do not need to be called upon to replenish this life-saving resource.
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