On Thursday, June 14, people around the world will roll up their sleeves and donate blood for World Blood Donor Day. Here are some recent facts and figures, supplied by the World Health Organization (WHO), to get you inspired to donate blood, not just on June 14 but regularly throughout the year.
Around 93 million blood donations are donated annually by all types of blood donors (based on reports from 173 countries).
50 percent of all blood donations are collected in developed countries, home to 16 percent of the world's population.
Some 8,000 blood centers around the world report collecting about 10,000 blood donations per center.
If 1 percent of a country's population donated blood, it would be sufficient to meet the country's basic requirements for blood for transfusion. But according to the WHO, donation rates are still less than 1 percent of the population in 77 countries.
62 countries reported collecting 100 percent of their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid donors, as compared to 57 countries in 2007. Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, and Zambia are the latest to join this list.
An estimated 38 percent of blood donations are collected from donors under the age of 25.
Women supply 40 percent or more of the blood supply in 25 countries.
Donors who give blood voluntarily have a lower prevalence of HIV, hepatitis viruses, and other blood-borne infections than people who donate for family members or for payment.
130 countries report that a total of 46,700 hospitals perform blood transfusions, serving a population of around 4 billion.
To learn more about donating blood and World Blood Donor Day, go to: http://www.who.int/worldblooddonorday/en
