“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
Hunan beings stand in need of human blood. That is when they lose blood due to accidents or lack blood due to diseases or other causes.
The theme for 2025 is: “Give blood, give hope – together we save lives.”
Blood donation is a divine-human act. You reach out to those in dire need for sustaining life. Your blood donation is an act of cooperation with the creator-God who gives life to all beings. Blood donation is a life promoting act. And, a valuable act of solidarity with the suffering humanity.
With one single donation, three lives can be saved. It can bring back a person from the portals of death to breathe fresh, to live better.
Requirements for donation:
A healthy and well feeling person between the age of 18-65 can donate blood.
The donor must weigh at least 50 kilograms. In some countries it is 45 kilograms.
In India male donors can donate again after 90 days and female donors can donate again after 120 days
In some countries, national legislation permits 16–17 year-olds to donate provided that they fulfil the physical and hematological criteria required and that appropriate consent is obtained.
A person suffering from cold, flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach bug or any other infection cannot donate blood.
If you have recently had a tattoo or body piercing, you cannot donate for 6 months from the date of the procedure.
If the body piercing was performed by a registered health professional and any inflammation has settled completely, you can donate blood after 12 hours.
If you have visited the dentist for a minor procedure you must wait 24 hours before donating; for major work wait a month.
You must not give blood:
If you engaged in “at risk” sexual activity in the past 12 months
Those who ever had a positive test for HIV (AIDS virus), or ever injected recreational drugs cannot donate blood.
It is prescribed that following
pregnancy, the deferral period should last as many months as the duration of the pregnancy.
It is not advisable to donate blood while breast-feeding.
Following childbirth, the deferral period is at least 9 months (as for pregnancy) and until 3 months after your baby is significantly weaned.
The right blood transfusion could actually save you, while the wrong one could be lethal. Also, Rh-negative blood is given to Rh-negative patients and Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood can only be given to Rh-positive patients.
You must not donate blood If you do not meet the minimum haemoglobin level for blood donation. The blood collecting lab will see to it.
A test will be administered at the donation site. In many countries, a haemoglobin level of not less than 12.0 g/dl for females and not less than 13.0 g/dl for males as the threshold.
Blodd type
If you are O blood type, you can donate to O, A, B, and AB.
If you are A blood type, you can donate to A and AB.
If you are B blood type, you can donate to B and AB, however if you are AB, you can only donate to AB.
Who can receive blood?
If you are O blood type, you can only receive from O. If you are A, you can receive from type A and O. If you are blood type B, you can receive from type B and O. If you are AB, you are lucky, you can receive blood from O, A, B, and AB.
Universal donour: O negative blood type is the universal blood type, which can donate to everyone, especially during the emergency transfusions and for immune deficient infants.
Donate life. Save life.
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” – Winston Churchill
