Gambia Marks World Blood Donor Day

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

Daily Observer

13 June 2011

The Gambia, will today, June 14th, 2011, join the rest of the world to celebrate World Blood Donor Day.

The celebration is meant to raise awareness on the need for safe blood and blood products, as well as thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood. The theme for World Blood Donor Day 2011 is “More blood, more life.” This theme reinforces the urgent need for more people all over the world to become life-savers by volunteering to donate blood regularly.

This year, WHO and partners are encouraging communities in every country to join the World Blood Donor Day campaign and “paint the world red”, whether by symbolically colouring, covering or lighting monuments, popular landmarks and buildings in red; staging artistic, cultural or musical events with a red-coloured theme; or forming a “human blood drop” in prominent public places.

Groups such as The Gambia National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), Red Cross Society and Gamblood Association are already on course in the celebration, which had already started on Saturday in the form of a road-show to raise awareness on the relevance and the need for safe blood and blood product donation. The staff of the Gambia NBTS members, and those of the Red Cross Society and Gamblood Association, on Saturday wore red T-shirts with giant blood drops symbolising the (human blood drop) and with key message of ‘Share life, give blood’.

The official launching of the celebration will be held today at the Serrekunda General Hospital in Kanifing at 9:30am.

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