Blood Donor Day marked as Slovenia celebrates 70 years of organised blood donation
Veržej, 4 June - Slovenia is observing Blood Donor Day on Sunday, remembering 4 June in 1945, when the first units of blood were collected and stored. The day and the 70th anniversary of organised voluntary blood donation in Slovenia were marked on Saturday at an annual get-together in Veržej with calls for donating blood regularly to save lives.
Ljubljana
A patient donating blood at the Institute of Transfusion Medicine of Slovenia.
Photo: Tjaša Doljak/STA
File photo
Red Cross Slovenia data shows that there are almost 60,000 regular blood donors the country, of whom 60% donate blood once a year and 2% as many as four times.
To cover all the needs for blood in healthcare in Slovenia, an average 350 to 400 people have to donate it every day.
The country's Red Cross thus organises almost 1,200 blood donation campaigns a year, of which over 390 take place at various locations so that people can donate locally.
In her Slovenian Blood Donor Day message, Red Cross president Vesna Mikuž said they were proud of the big family of good people who help patients with their blood.
"Thanks to all the blood donors, Slovenia is one of the countries which covers its needs for blood on its own," she wrote.
At yesterday's event, Health Minister Danijel Bešič Loredan was among those who donated blood. Saying that as a surgeon and minister he is well aware that blood saves lives, he urged those who have donated blood once to do so again as soon as possible.