World Blood Donor Day
What is donating blood?
World Blood Donor Day, celebrated on 14 June every year was created to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.
Who can donate blood?
Regular donors are allowed to give blood every three months, but donors may develop health issues during that time, thus disqualifying them from donating, not being available when the date rolls around, or may hit an age where they are no longer able to donate. You cannot have had a cold or flu in the past week, a tattoo, pregnant or low on iron.
How many people might need blood?
We need 27000 donations a week. Currently 1 in 3 need blood but only 1 in 30 Australians donate. Half a million Australians donate blood to people with cancer or serious illnesses.