Our new Minister of Health, Hon. Dwayne Seymour, has given a very important message concerning the importance of giving blood.

Please read his World Blood Donor Day Message 2017 published today on iNews Cayman.

Today (14) is World Blood Donor Day and the theme is “Give blood. Give now. Give often”.

“While people may think of blood as needed primarily in the aftermath of accidents or surgery, it is also essential to have on-hand in case of wounds during natural disasters such as hurricanes, and has a life-saving role in maternal and perinatal care,” Minister Seymour said.

The American red cross has given five reasons to give blood:

Reason #1:
Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. That means more than 38,000 blood donations are needed per day. Currently, less than 38% of the population is eligible to give blood, with only 3 out of every 100 Americans actually donating. It’s a very elite group, but they’re always looking to expand membership.

Reason #2:
There are four types of transfusable products that can be derived from a pint of whole blood: red cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. As each pint of donated whole blood is separated into two or
three of these products, each donation can help save up to three lives.

Reason #3:
Donating blood is a simple four-step process: registration, medical history and mini-physical, donation and refreshments (cookies!) The whole process takes no more than one hour and 15 minutes with the actual blood collection taking about 12 minutes.

Reason #4:
The two most common reasons people don’t give blood are, “I never thought about it” and “I don’t like needles.” Well, we’re thinking about it right now! And, let’s face it, as cancer survivors, haven’t we dealt with much worse than a needle prick. Plus, blood donation is an opportunity to volunteer, rather than be drafted. Wouldn’t it feel good to put out your arm for a cause and walk away knowing you’ve contributed to the good health of someone other than yourself?

Reason #5:
More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.

END

All over the world the message is the same – BLOOD DONATIONS ARE DESPERATELY LOW.

The WHO (World Health Organization) reported today:

“67 countries report collecting fewer than 10 donations per 1000 people. Of these, 38 countries are in the WHO African Region, 5 in the WHO Region of the Americas, 6 in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, 5 in the WHO European Region, 6 in the WHO South-Eastern Asia Region, and 8 in the WHO Western Pacific Region. All are low- or middle-income countries.”

At some time in our life nearly all of us will need blood.

Therefore:

Give blood. Give now. Give often