Regular blood donation is vital for maternal and newborn health

The United Nations (UN) declared June 14, the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO blood group system, as "World Blood Donor Day" in 2005.

This year, WHO launched a campaign themed "Donate blood, give hope: together we save lives" to honor blood donors who bring hope to the lives of thousands of people with the blood they donate.

The campaign aims to draw attention to the life-saving role of blood donation, encourage society to donate blood regularly and call on governments to invest more in blood donation programs.

Types of blood donations

Blood donors are divided into three groups: voluntary donors, those who donate blood for their families, and those who donate blood in exchange for money.

The main blood supply is provided by people who donate blood regularly, voluntarily and unpaid. Therefore, voluntary blood donation is of global importance.

According to WHO, 79 countries provide more than 90 percent of their blood supply through voluntary and unpaid blood donations, while in 54 countries, more than half of their blood supply comes from family members or is provided for a fee.

One unit of blood, hope for three lives

Blood donation brings hope to thousands of patients every year. According to WHO, one unit of blood can help save the lives of three people.

However, in countries where blood donation systems are not sufficiently developed, the demand for blood often exceeds the available supply. For this reason, WHO calls on every citizen who is able to donate blood to donate blood voluntarily and regularly.

Blood donation for mothers and newborns

This year, WHO also addresses the importance of blood donation in maternal and newborn health.

Every year, 14 million women experience bleeding during childbirth . Severe bleeding during and after birth is one of the leading causes of maternal death, especially in developing countries.

Timely access to safe blood transfusions can help prevent maternal and child deaths. Timely access to safe blood transfusions saves the lives of mothers and babies.

WHO calls for blood donations to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.

Global donation data

According to WHO data, approximately 118.5 million units of blood are donated annually worldwide.

Global blood donations increased by an average of 10.7 million units between 2008 and 2018. During this period, the highest increases in blood donations were seen in Southeast Asia with 127 percent, and in the Americas and Africa with 81 percent.

33 percent of blood donations worldwide were made by women and 67 percent by men.

The amount donated also varied by the income group of the donor. 40 percent of global blood donations came from high-income countries, where 76 percent of blood transfusions were given to patients over the age of 60.

In low-income countries, 54 percent of blood transfusions were given to children under age 5.

Who can donate blood?

According to the data of the Turkish Red Crescent, every healthy individual between the ages of 18-65 and weighing over 50 kilograms can be a blood donor candidate.

Regular blood donors can donate blood up to the age of 70, at most once a year, with the approval of the blood donation center doctor.