World Blood Donor Day celebrated by PGIMER

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14 every year as per World Health Assembly Resolution of 2005 to commemorate the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the ABO blood group system

Department of transfusion medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, celebrated World Blood Donor Day by organising a blood donation campaign on Sunday in which around 200 volunteers took part.

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14 every year as per World Health Assembly Resolution of 2005 to commemorate the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the ABO blood group system.

The event serves to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their contribution and raise awareness on the need for regular blood donations.

The theme of “Safe blood saves lives” and the slogan “Give blood and make the world a healthier place” has been released by the WHO this year.

PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram inaugurated the second voluntary blood donation camp of the association of resident doctors (ARD), PGIMER and the Thalassaemic Children Welfare Association (TCWA), Chandigarh.

One of the blood donors, Randeep Datta, who was honored by PGIMER for his services said: “I have donated blood over 100 times and today is a great day as it’s my daughter’s 25th birthday, who is also an active blood donor.”

The second voluntary blood donation camp was organized in the “blood mobile vehicle” at the Sector 23 market by the Shree Shiv Kanwar Mahasangh Charitable Trust, Panchkula.

Dr Ram also expressed his gratitude towards the first four “convalescent plasma” donors, the donations of whom have been transfused to three Covid-19 patients, the first one of who was successfully discharged from PGIMER on June 12.