On 14 June 2011, WHO  celebrates World Blood Donor Day with events to thank voluntary blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, particularly in developing countries. 79 out of 80 developing countries have low blood donation rates (less than 10 per 1000 population), which is less than what is considered necessary to meet a nation’s basic requirements for blood.     

This annual event highlights the urgent need to increases blood donations through safe, sustainable methods adopted by health facilities and health decision makers.  

IN 2009, the number of blood donors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was approximately 161,181.

 

International Approved Date:     14\6\2011-06-04

Regionally Approved Date:          4\7\1432 H 

“More blood. More life.”

• http://www.who.int/worldblooddonorday/en/index.html
  
• http://www.aabb.org/content
  
• http://www.cbcsf.org/index-e.jsp?
  

Blood donation is a voluntary work. Studies proved that donating blood enhance the production of new Red Blood Cells. The volume of blood taken is 450 to 500 milliliters, less than 8% of your total blood volume (the average adult has 5 to 6 liters of blood). Your body will replace the lost fluid within short time.       

The need for safe and secure supplies of blood and blood products is universal. globally, at least 90 million units of blood are donated each year to save lives and improve  health. Nevertheless, demand for blood for transfusion continues to increases, and many countries can’t meet the existing needs. In many countries, this means inadequate supplies to replace blood lost in childbirth and to treat anemia that threatens the lives of children who have malaria or undernourished.  Everywhere, blood and blood products are needed for routine and emergency surgery, including life-saving treatment for growing numbers of people injured in road traffic accidents, and for treating congenital blood disorders. 

Some people can be deferred from donating blood temporarily or permanently. Some of these reasons are:

• Temporarily Deferred
• People who can’t donate blood for three years 
• Have visited areas where malaria is found in the last 3 years. 
• Have had malaria in the past 3 years. 
• Have had Maltese fever and in the past 3 years 
• People who can’t donate blood for one year 
• Have received blood, plasma or other types of components in the past year  
• Nursing staff  works in Dialysis units  
• Have been tattooed, or donors with pierced ears or nose  
• Have been exposed  with someone with HIV or hepatitis
• Have had gonorrhea
• Have had syphilis 
• Have had a serious illness or major surgery in the past 12 months 
• Pregnant woman cannot donate blood unless after 6 months of delivery 
• People who can’t donate blood for 4 weeks  
• Have had injections for polio, chicken pox, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza and hepatitis.  
• Are taking Alrookyotan, Bruskar and Prozac 
• People who can’t donate blood for 1 weeks  
• Are not feeling good, i.e. high temperature, sore throat or flue during the past week 
• Have taken antibiotics within the past week  
• Permanently Differed
  People who have medical conditions, including: 
• Cancer 
• Diabetes (take Insulin)  
• Epilepsy 
• Heart diseases 
• Hepatitis B,C 
• Kidney diseases
• Allachmania
• Lung disease 
• SARS 
• HIV
• Tuberculosis
• Brain blood clot 
• Drug addicts or have been  injected  with drugs 
• Are or have been engaged in prohibited relationships
• Shown some AIDS symptoms, i.e. fever, diarrhea, lymphadenopathy, rapid weight lose, continuous coughing, white spots in the mouth and night sweats

Precautions Before and After Blood Donation  

• Before donation 
  No need to be fasting before donating. It is preferable to eat non greasy food before two hours from donation  
• After donation 
  After donating you sit in an observation area, where you rest and eat a light snack. After 10 to 15 minutes, you can leave. After your blood donation:
• Drink extra fluids for the next day or two.
• Avoid strenuous physical activity or heavy lifting for the next five hours.
• If you feel lightheaded, lie down with your feet up until the feeling passes.
• Keep the bandage on your arm for at least  4 hours  
• If you have bleeding after removing the bandage, put pressure on the site and raise your arm for three to five minutes.
• If bleeding or bruising occurs under the skin, apply a cold pack to the area periodically during the first 24 hours.
• If your arm is sore, take a pain reliever such as acetaminophen. Avoid taking aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others).
• Avoid smoking after donating
• Don’t lift heavy things using the used arm in blood donation for 12 hours   

Usually, there are no side effects for blood donation. It is common to experience slight dizziness or lightheadedness after blood donation. Redness may occur in the injection area.   

Blood types are very important when transferring blood from a person to another. Blood types are classified as A, B, AB or O and the  Rh factor. The Rh factor refers to the presence or absence of a specific antigen, a substance capable of stimulating an immune response, in the blood. So you're either Rh positive or Rh negative, meaning you carry the antigen or you don't, i.e. if your blood group is (A+ve) that means that your blood type is A and your Rh factor is positive and (A-ve) means that your blood type is A and your Rh factor is negative. Positive Rh is more common that negative Rh since it is a dominate gene. 

	A+	A-	B+	B-	AB+	AB-	O+	O-
A+​	ü	ü					ü	ü
A-		ü						ü
B+			ü	ü			ü	ü
B-				ü				ü
AB+	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü	ü
AB-		ü		ü		ü		ü
O+							ü	ü
O-								ü