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Every second of every day, all over the world, people of all ages and from all walks of life need blood transfusions in order to survive. The sheer scale and role of blood transfusions in saving and improving lives is now recognised every year on June 14 as World Blood Donor Day. The date is significant in that it is the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, the Nobel Prize winner who discovered the ABO blood group antigens.
The Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service needs to collect, on average, some 200,000 units of blood each year to meet the demands for patient treatment. With the enthusiastic support of a large and loyal pool of blood donors, Hong Kong has been able to maintain self-sufficiency in blood supply and has not needed to seek supplies from other countries.
To celebrate the annual "World Blood Donor Day", the BTS has designed a special commemorative 2006 "World Blood Donor Day" multi-purpose bag for presentation to donors who give blood from June 5 to 18, 2006.
As "World Blood Donor Day" approaches, a Thalassaemia major patient expressing her gratitude to blood donors says - "Thanks for your care and concern that has saved our lives. Though you do not ask for any reward and blood donation may seem to you a little help to others, you have kindly given us the gift we need most. I would like to thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart. You have lighted up our lives!¡±
In addition to thanking all our blood donors, this year, the focus of World Blood Donor Day will be on 'Commitment ¡ª encouraging blood donors to donate blood regularly'.
We sincerely invite people aged 16 to 65, weighing more than 41 kgs (around 90 pounds) and in good health to become blood donors. Male donors aged 18 or above can give blood every three months and females can donate every four months. Youngsters aged 16 to 17 can donate every six months and need to have parental consent for their first blood donation.
Life is precious. The Blood Transfusion Service calls for public support for regular blood donation. For enquiries about blood donation, the public can call the transfusion service hotline at 2710 1234 or visit the website at http://www.ha.org.hk/rcbts. In the years to come, the Blood Transfusion Service looks forward to more and more blood donors joining the World to celebrate "World Blood Donor Day" every June 14.
Ends/Friday, June 2, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:51
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