Written By- Raja Surjo Khan

Today “Blood Donor Day”. The purpose of the day is to ensure that people around the world donate blood and use blood properly to stay safe from the deadly blood-borne diseases HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C. To play a role in achieving the goal of achieving universal health care through this.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in 2013, we need about 4 lakh bags of blood every year In 2019, it stands at 13 lakh bags In less than a decade, blood demand has more than tripled Then you understand the importance of a blood donor!

Why would you give blood?

Bangladesh needs 1.3 million bags of blood every year. About 55,000 people died without getting blood. 35-40 percent of the required blood is obtained from the patient’s relatives, 15-20 percent from volunteers and 15-20 percent from professional blood sellers. The remaining 20-25 percent or about 2.5 lakh bags of blood remain deficient. On the other hand the 15-20 percent blood supply that professional vendors supply is unsafe. As a result, the amount of deficient and unsafe blood is about 40 percent or about 5 lakh.

According to the World Health Organization, 45 percent of people in the developed world donate blood voluntarily. And in Bangladesh or developing countries only three people per thousand donate blood. In order to fill the deficit and stop the use of unsafe blood in Bangladesh, only 5 lakh more bags need to be collected annually than at present. A healthy person can donate blood three times a year. This problem can be solved if only 2 lakh people out of 160 million people can be motivated as voluntary blood donors.

How to make up for the lack of blood

At present a large part of the population in the country is young. This number is about 5 crores. It is not difficult to overcome the shortage of safe blood circulation if even a small amount of young people can be organized as volunteers. His organization forced many developed countries to donate blood to employees. That does not happen in Bangladesh. That is why it is necessary to build a volunteer platform with the youth.

If it is possible to build two lakh volunteer platforms across the country in the next two years, it will be possible to reduce the number of deaths due to lack of blood at a significant rate from 2021. At the same time ensuring safe blood circulation can save the future lives of the patients. Otherwise, you and I or our loved ones are not free from this terrible situation.

A Brief History of Blood Donor Day:

Since June 14, 1868, was the birthday of blood group discoverer Carl Landsteiner, World Blood Donor Day has been observed since 2004.

When is blood donation safe?

Those who weigh at least 45 kg, age minimum 18, can donate blood voluntarily. Blood can be given every 4 months. It does not harm the body. According to experts, a healthy person usually consumes 76 ml per kg. There is blood. Of these, 50 ml is required to run the internal activities of the body. The remaining 26 ml. As a surplus. When blood is cut somewhere in the body, it is filled from the surplus. If a person weighs 70 kg, then the amount of surplus blood in his body (28 ml) = 1,820 ml. If you want, you can save your life by donating blood from this surplus. 400-450 ml of blood is collected from a human body.

We are now very much aware of this blood donation in the whole of Bangladesh including Cox’s Bazar. There are various public or private initiatives for blood collection. Anyone can be associated with these initiatives. You can join as a donor yourself or by providing financial support for the implementation of this initiative. Let’s try to save 55,000 people from death. ‘If you live by your efforts, then you are human-great’.