The day is marked in a bid to spread awareness about the significance of blood donation in saving thousands of lives around the world.
All members of Qatar’s community have been urged to donate blood in order to help save the lives of hundreds of patients in need, the blood donation service of the Primary Health Care Corporation [PHCC] said on World Blood Donor Day.
The health corporation emphasised that with the continuation of the pandemic, it is as important as ever to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation as a matter or urgency.
Donating blood during the current health situation is safe and not a cause for concern, authorities said, urging people to donate in order to avoid any shortage of stock.
June 14 of every year marks World Blood Donor Day— a day aimed to raise awareness about the need to donate blood regularly and to recognise the contribution of voluntary unpaid blood donors in saving lives.
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According to medical research, regular blood donations have a plethora of benefits to the donors, including weight loss, preventing hemochromatosis —a condition in which there is an excess absorption of iron by the body, as well as lowering the risk of cancer and heart diseases.
According to researchers from the University of California, donating a pint of blood (450 ml) helps your body burn about 650 calories.
To further expand its efforts, the state-owned health corporation will also organise a live broadcast by a family doctor to talk about blood donation and its benefits.
A blood donation campaign for PHCC staff, in coordination with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s Qatar Blood Services, will also be organised soon to make donating more easily accessible.
Huda al-Wahidi, executive director of Corporate Communication at PHCC, said that safe blood donation contributes to saving millions of people around the world daily and improving the quality of life for many more.
For this year’s blood donation campaign, PHCC will focus on securing a safe blood supply by encouraging donations among employees and members of the community, said Dr Maryam Abdullah al-Maslamani, director of the Occupational Safety Department at PHCC.
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Those wishing to donate will first need to register at the reception using QID, Health card, Driver’s license or passport (visa holders are not permitted to donate blood except GCC resident ID holders).
The donor will then go through a medical and physical assessment to ensure they are fit to donate. If they pass, the nurse will direct them to the location of the blood donation.
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