January - National Blood Donor Month

Faeril Munlear

Knight of the Glitterati
Aes Sedai
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Jan 27, 2003
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NATIONAL BLOOD DONOR MONTH
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January is more than just the start of the New Year. It’s also National Blood Donor Month! an opportunity to recognize those across the globe who regularly roll up their sleeves and help save lives. Without the generosity of those who give so selflessly, millions of patients each year would not have the blood they require for emergency needs or ongoing treatments.

Blood is unique in our healthcare ecosystem. It cannot be synthetically made, meaning volunteers are the only way to provide blood to those in need. And the demand is great.

Donating isn’t just easy, it’s also safe and can be done every 56 days – giving all of us a lot of opportunities to do a lot of good each year. It’s critical that donors seize these chances to make giving blood a routine way of giving back.

We’ve all seen the images of people lining up at blood centers following an emergency, for which we are all grateful. However, many don’t realize that it’s the blood already on the shelf at the time of an event that helps those in immediate need. A donation can take anywhere from 12 to 48 hours to become available for patients in need since all donated blood is run through more than a dozen tests to make sure it is safe for transfusion. That’s why the best way to help after the next emergency is to give generously right now.

That’s what this month is all about. As we make our resolutions for the new year, we encourage all those who can to make blood donation a priority. Together, we can help save lives and support more people across our community.

I will try to dig up more statistics for other countries, but in America, older Americans are the most frequent donors. The rate of donations from those 65 and older increased by 15 percent between 2017 and 2019, a figure that should make us all proud. However, during that same time period, the percentage of younger donors who donated blood – those between the ages of 16 and 24 years old – decreased by double digits.

Here are some more resources and info. If there are any I should add, please let me know and I’ll update!

Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies - https://www.aabb.org/for-donors-patients/national-blood-donor-month

America's Blood - https://americasblood.org/events/national-blood-donor-month-2023/

European Blood Alliance - https://europeanbloodalliance.eu/

Indian Red Cross Society - https://indianredcross.org/ircs/program/BloodBank

Japanese Red Cross Society - https://www.jrc.or.jp/english/activity/blood/

South African National Blood Service - https://sanbs.org.za/

While January is National Blood Donor Month, TarValon.Net is entering our 9th year of our annual Blood Drive which is an initiative we do throughout the whole year. To learn more visit our thread in Site Announcements here.

If you have donated blood, or feel this is an important cause and want to help promote it within the community, here are our Blood Donation graphics:

Signature Badges:
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Signature:
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