MoH celebrates World Blood Donor Day

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Health (MoH) on Thursday celebrated the World Blood Donor Day, which marks June 14 under the theme (Give Blood, Give Now and Give Often).

The ceremony held under the auspices of Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, Minister of Information at the Cultural Club.

This year, the theme focuses on blood donation during the emergency.

Emergency cases affect the lives of millions of people every year, therefore, blood transfusion is one of the basic factors of healthcare and requires providing adequate blood supply during emergencies.

Dr Zainab al Oraimi, Director of Blood Banks Services, said in her speech that: “MoH, represented by the Blood Banks Services Department focuses on providing the safe blood and its products to all medical facilities, as well as seeking to make blood donation voluntarily among the community”.

Dr Al Oraimi also added that the percentage of voluntary donation reached 88.5 per cent in 2016 and 445 blood donation campaigns were organised during the same year.

The ceremony included lectures related to the importance of blood donation, health reasons behind blood donation, as well as the humanitarian and religious role in this field. Participants and volunteer teams were honoured in the end.