World Blood Donor Day 2010 - New Blood for Life
14 June 2010
World Blood Donor Day is an international event that the NZ Blood Service is celebrating across the country on Monday 14 June. It is an opportunity to thank life-saving blood donors, but also an important chance to encourage more people to become donors. This year’s theme is New Blood for Life, reflecting the need for more new donors to come forward and be regular donors throughout their life. We are targeting 18-30 year olds (‘Gen Y’) in particular.
What is World Blood donor Day all about?
- World Blood Donor Day is an opportunity to thank life-saving blood donors, but also an important chance to encourage more people to become donors.
- Regular donations by dedicated blood donors ensure we have a steady supply of blood and blood products to help save lives. We are very thankful to them for their contribution.
- This year’s World Blood Donor Day theme is New Blood for Life because we need more new donors, particularly from ‘Generation Y’, those 18-30 years old.
- There has been a noticeable drop in new donor numbers this year. We need new donors to help share the load with our existing, very loyal, donor base.
- This is made worse because the overall donor database is decreasing each year and NZ has an aging population.
- We need ‘Gen Y’ New Zealanders to start donating now to fill the void left by those who are no longer able to donate.
- If you are interested in becoming a blood donor phone 0800 GIVE BLOOD or make an appointment.
The new statistics and why the drop:
- Nationwide there has been an 18% drop in the number of new donors. This is unprecedented.
- It is worrying and we want to correct it now, so it doesn’t become a trend.
- Previous years have been fairly steady, with around 21,000 new donors coming forward, last year there just over 17,000.
- What drives people to donate blood is a complex issue, it varies from person to person, so we cannot pinpoint exactly why this decline has occurred.
- What we do know is, is that people respond well to being asked to donate, so that is what World Blood Donor Day is all about this year. We are asking people to check their eligibility and if they can, to make an appointment to become a donor.
- We want new donors at any age (you can start donating between 16 and 60), but recruiting more young donors is extra important to future-proofing our service.
- Lots of current donors started in their younger years, but it seems the tradition is not being passed on as much as we’d hope.
- We know there are about 40,000 18 to 30 somethings that are donors, so this group are represented in the statistics – we simply need more for the future.
For more information visit: Am I Eligible? page.
