Significance & theme
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on the 14th of June every year. This day focuses on drawing attention to the importance of donating blood. It was first initiated in 2004 by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This year's theme is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Join the effort and save lives” focusing on the urgency to increase the number of donors.
Donated blood can help treat and support people suffering from chronic health diseases and complications. The importance and urgency to donate blood has more significantly increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. As the lack of donated blood becomes more worrying, it is important to understand how can one help.
Who cannot donate blood?
As much as one might want to donate blood, it is important to know the requirements laid out by the WHO. If the blood is drawn from someone that is unfit to donate it, it can further worsen the health of the person being provided with the blood. Hence, it is important to understand who can or cannot donate blood.
Here are 10 reasons you may be unfit to donate blood:
Donated blood recently
A donor is advised to donate blood only once in 2 months or 56 days. This is necessary for the good health and safety of the donor.
Pregnant
Pregnant people are not eligible to donate blood. Anemia is one of the most common deficiencies pregnant people might suffer from. Their risks of iron deficiency might increase post-donation.
New body piercings
If you have recently got any body piercings in the last 3 months, you may not be eligible to donate blood.
Fever or cold
If you have a fever or are suffering from a cold or flu, you may not be eligible to donate blood. However, you are encouraged to donate whenever you are doing better and are completely fit.
Fresh tattoos
Similar to body piercings, if you have gotten a tattoo in the last 3 months, you should refrain from donating blood.
Underweight
If you are underweight, I.e. if you are under 110 pounds/ 50 kgs, you are not encouraged to donate blood. In this case, it may be severely harmful to the donor to donate blood.
Age
Only people over the age of 17 are eligible to donate blood. As for the maximum age, there are no restrictions unless you are suffering from a chronic disease.
High or low bp
In case you have high blood pressure or low blood pressure, you may not be eligible to donate blood. People with low bp may feel unwell post-donation.
Tuberculosis
If you are suffering from active tuberculosis, you may not be fit to donate blood. Tuberculosis can easily travel from the donor's body to the receiver's blood.
AIDS
Similar to TB, AIDS can also transfer from the body of the donor to the receiver.
In conclusion, before you donate blood, you are encouraged to do proper research to identify whether or not you are fit to donate blood. These restrictions are necessary to ensure the blood transfusion is safe for the donor as well as the receiver and should not be taken lightly.
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.
