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Blood donation: join the effort and save lives

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Jakarta, IO – The World Blood Donor Day is commemorated on 14 June every year. This is the birth date of Karl Landsteiner, the scientist who initially discovered the A, B, and C blood types. This discovery became the basic of modern blood typing of A, B, AB, and O positive and negative types, which allows doctors to perform blood transfusions without endangering recipients’ lives. This year’s theme, “Donating Blood is an Act of Solidarity: Join the Effort and Save Lives”, reminds people that blood donations and safe blood products are critically important. 

“The World Blood Donor Day commemoration is also held to express thanks to blood donors who voluntarily donated their blood to save multiple lives. We also seek to tell people that the donor’s safety is equally precious and important. The World Blood Donor Day was first commemorated in 2004; then, the WHO declares it an annual global event in its 58th World Summit in 2005,” said dr. Dewi Lesthiowati, Sp.PK(K), MKes, clinical pathologist-consultant from Persahabatan Central General Hospital, Jakarta, in the “Donate Your Blood to Save Lives” live IG session held on Tuesday (14/6/2022). 

Despite constant reminders of the benefits of donating blood, blood donor awareness in Indonesia remains very low. “Ideally, blood donors should be volunteers, instead of substitute donors made up of family and friends. We need a lot of blood, especially in emergency and disaster situations – which frequently happen in Indonesia. Having sufficient stock is essential. Blood is also a component in medical treatment, for example in cases of hemorrhage births, severe anemia because of malaria or thalassemia, congenital abnormalities, cancer, and surgical operations. It is literally lifesaving for these people.” 

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