14 June 2004
This is a very special day for our country, South Africa. For the first time the world is focused on this country as we host this world event for the first time.
This is the day when the whole world join in celebration to honour and thank those people who donate their blood on a voluntary, unpaid basis to give the most precious gift of all – the Gift of Life.
In South Africa, we have taken an approach that no tissue, blood or blood product should be commercialised! Therefore, donors form the backborne of our blood transfusion services and a source of life for many people who may need blood. That is why today as a country we are saying thank you to all donors for your unselfish dedication to fellow South Africans. You are giving a precious gift to people who you will probably not even know, but whose life will be saved by your contribution.
Because of our dedicated donors, South Africa is proud of its record in providing safe blood to those in need. We are already experiencing the benefits of having a single blood transfusion service. This is with the exception of Western Cape which, we hope, will ultimately come on board and be part of this national asset.
The benefits of having a single national blood transfusion services include:
The focus of World Blood Donor Day this year is the youth. I want to encourage the youth of our country, South Africa, to safeguard their health by caring for a precious life-saver, their blood. School leavers are encouraged to enroll in Club 25, a special programme for donors between 18 years to 25 years. The Club helps to establish a donor culture and ensure safe blood for transfusion.
We are looking for donors that live healthy lifestyles and are responsible in their sexual practices. We are thus looking for low risk donors, who are free of potentially life-threatening infections that can be transmitted to the recipients of their blood including HIV, hepatitis viruses, syphilis and malaria.
The testing of donated blood for infections that can be transmitted by blood is essential. But the safest donations come from the safest donors. Evidence from around the world demonstrates that voluntary non-remunerated donors who give blood regularly are the foundation of a safe blood supply because they are least likely to transmit infections through their blood. Safe blood starts with you!
A well-organised blood donor programme, with a self-exclusion option, based on voluntary blood donation can achieve a low prevalence of HIV among blood donors, even where there is a high incidence of HIV infection in the general population.
While we grapple with the challenge of relatively high prevalence of HIV in the country, it is encouraging to note that there is only 0.04% HIV prevalence amongst our regular blood donors. As a country, we have made major efforts to ensure that donated is screened for a variety of infections and to maximize the safety of our blood transfusion service especially in the context of HIV and AIDS.
Programme Director, every second, someone in the world needs blood. These millions of people owe their lives to people they will never meet – people who donate their blood freely without any reward. Unfortunately, many others die every day because they do not have access to safe blood when they need it.
Blood shortage has a particular impact on children with severe life-threatening anaemia caused by malaria and malnutrition, victims of trauma and on women with complications of pregnancy. A significant number of deaths can be avoided if everybody has access to a safe supply of this lifesaving resource. This can only be achieved through a significant increase in the number of people who choose to donate blood regularly so that blood is always available for patients whose treatment depends on transfusion.
All blood donors are miracle workers. I want to urge you to encourage your healthy friends and families to become miracle workers. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to lead healthy lifestyles in order to protect ourselves and keep our blood safe.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all individuals and organizations that contributed in making this World Blood Donor Day a success. I would like to recognize in particular the collaborative efforts of four international organizations that work for the provision of safe blood globally and these are:
Donation of blood is an act of generosity and love. Our Government is committed to supporting a single blood transfusion service and safe blood to everybody in need.
Thank you