Every two seconds someone in South East Asia needs a blood transfusion. There are many circumstances where patients need blood to stay alive: they may have been involved in an accident, undergone surgery, suffered a miscarriage, lost blood during childbirth, have a blood disease, and so on. In all of these situations access to safe blood can save lives. Blood cannot be manufactured; it can only be donated by humans. World Blood Donor Day this year aims to raise awareness about the importance of regular blood donations and thank all of the voluntary, unpaid donors who have saved millions of lives across the world.
Bangladesh needs more than 8 lakh units of blood annually to meet the needs of the population; in 2015 it had approximately 6 lakh units. Only 30% of Bangladesh’s blood supply is received from voluntary unpaid donors. The Government of Bangladesh is committed to increasing voluntary blood donations to ensure a safe blood supply for the whole country. To this end, WHO Bangladesh has supported the development of a national voluntary blood donor strategy and provided technical assistance for the development of guidelines for blood donor motivation and recruitment.
