Voluntary unpaid blood donations increase, saving more lives

The number of countries collecting all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors increased by more than 50% between 2002 and 2008, according to new global data from WHO, released on World Blood Donor Day, 14 June.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated each year to highlight the contribution voluntary unpaid blood donors make to public health. This year's slogan, "More blood, more life" aims to encourage still more people to come forward to give blood and save more lives.
"WHO's goal is for all countries to obtain all blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donations by 2020," says Dr. Neelam Dhingra, Coordinator, Blood Transfusion Safety at WHO. "Nine years ago, 39 countries were obtaining all their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors: in 2008 that figure had gone up to 62. We hope that World Blood Donor Day will encourage more people in more countries to become regular voluntary blood donors."

Source: WHO