World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) is held on June 14 each year. The event was organised for the first time in 2004, by four core international organizations: the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO) and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. World Blood Donor Day is one of 11 official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Chagas Disease Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Immunization Week, World Patient Safety Day, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Hepatitis Day, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week and World AIDS Day.
A 2014 World Blood Donor Day celebration
A donor's arm at various stages of donation. The two photographs on the left show a blood pressure cuff being used as a tourniquet.
A blood donation occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation. Donation may be of whole blood, or of specific components directly (apheresis). Blood banks often participate in the collection process as well as the procedures that follow it.
Blood donation center at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland. From left to right: Two cell separators for apheresis, secluded office for pre-donation blood pressure measurement and blood count, and on the right, chairs for whole blood donations.
A blood collection bus (bloodmobile) from Japanese Red Cross at Myōdani Station in Suma-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
A US Navy sailor donating blood
A donor's arm at various stages of donation. The two photographs on the left show a blood pressure cuff being used as a tourniquet.