Call for public to save lives this June
In World Blood Donor Month, students from UKZN Howard College Campus, with the support of The Sunflower Fund and the South African National Blood Services (SANBS)
THE theme of this year’s World Blood Donor Month campaign for June is ‘blood connects us all’.
It focuses on thanking blood donors and highlights the dimension of sharing and connection between blood donors and patients.
In addition, the slogan ‘share life, give blood’ has been adopted globally, to draw attention to the roles that voluntary donation systems play in encouraging people to care for one another and promote community cohesion.
The campaign aims to highlight stories of people whose lives have been saved through blood donation, to motivate regular blood donors to continue giving blood, and encourage people in good health who have never given blood to begin doing so, particularly young people.
In World Blood Donor Month, students from UKZN Howard College Campus, with the support of The Sunflower Fund and the South African National Blood Services (SANBS), encourage the public to donate blood and register as stem cell donors. By educating healthy, caring and committed people they hope to increase the numbers of potential donors on the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR). For patients with life-threatening blood disorders like leukaemia, this offers a greater chance of finding a match and a second chance at life. By donating a unit of blood, you can help to save three lives.
It only takes two test tubes of blood to register as a potential stem cell donor on the SABMR but it costs R2,000 to tissue-type the blood samples to the required DNA level. The Sunflower Fund, responsible for the recruitment and growth of the SABMR, engages in extensive awareness and fundraising to pay for these costs for potential donors. To donate R20 to this worthy cause, in support of World Blood Donor Month, SMS Sunflower to 40555. (SMS charged at R20. Free SMSes do not apply. Revenue paid to the charity is subject to network operator fees and administration fees).
Call The Sunflower Fund toll free on 0800-12-10-82 weekdays between 8.30am and 4.30pm or visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za for more information. To arrange an awareness talk at your organisation, email Mandy Bergsma on mandy@sunflowerfund.org.za.
The students also encourage the public to join the South African National Blood Service this June in celebrating those who contribute to saving the lives of others. To find out more about World Blood Donor Day and Blood Donor Month, visit www.sanbs.org.za or call 0800-11-9031.
