From the Editor
The world observes International Blood Donor Day on 14 June every year. Our cover story this week is on Blood Donor Day.
It may be noted that every year 92093 million blood donations are collected world wide. Approximately half of these are collected in high income countries, home to only 15% of the worlds population.
Many patients requiring transfusion, particularly in developing countries, do not have timely access to safe blood. It may be noted that a single unit of donated blood can save up to three lives. Regular voluntary blood donors are the safest source of blood as there are fewer blood borne infections among these donors than among people who donate for family blood for emergencies or who give blood for payment. In low- and middle-income countries, the greatest use of donated blood is for pregnancy-related complications and severe childhood anaemia. In high-income countries,
transfusion is most commonly used for supportive care in heart surgery, transplant surgery, massive trauma and cancer therapy.
Providing safe and adequate blood through well-organized, national blood systems should be an integral part of every countrys national
health-care policy. WHOs goal is for all countries to obtain all their blood supplies from 100% voluntary unpaid donors by 2020.
WHO provides policy guidance and technical assistance to support countries to ensure that safe blood and blood products are available and used appropriately for all people who need them.
