June 14 is the day on which the world will officially celebrate World Voluntary Blood Donor Day for the 20th time, with the aim of drawing attention to its enormous importance, raising awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and of course - thanking voluntary blood donors for the whole world for their irreplaceable and invaluable contribution to the health and well-being of millions of people.
The day is the date of birth of Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian biologist and physician, who at the beginning of the 20th century discovered the system of blood groups “A-B-0“, and was symbolically chosen by the World Health Organization in recognition of the enormous value of the great discovery that brought him the Nobel Prize and saved and continues to save millions of human lives.
Organizations and communities around the world are making efforts to build a culture of free and voluntary blood donation in order to have enough safe blood available for healthcare.
In our country, the Bulgarian Voluntary Blood Donation Organization (BODC) is the first and only entirely voluntary association that provides help and information related to blood donation; works to promote and popularize regular, anonymous and voluntary blood donation and supports and organizes actions, trainings and information campaigns.
Every year the World Voluntary Blood Donor Day has its own special message - this year it gathers the great meaning of all the messages – “ 20 years of celebrating donation: Thank you, blood donors!“. The 20th anniversary of the official celebration of World Voluntary Blood Donor Day is an excellent opportunity to thank blood donors around the world for their life-saving empathy for patients' need, as well as to thank them for their irreplaceable contribution to the well-functioning of the health care system.