June 14 — World Blood Donor Day: the theme and events of 2025, how to become a donor

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated all over the world in early summer. The holiday is dedicated to people who voluntarily donate their blood or its components to those in need of transfusion, thereby saving millions of lives. Every year it is dedicated to some topical topic related to donation. Izvestia tells about how the holiday appeared and under what motto it will be held in 2025.

When is World Blood Donor Day in 2025

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated annually on June 14th. This is a fixed date that does not change from year to year. In 2025, it falls on a Saturday.

At the same time, the holiday remains a working day on the remaining days of the week, and no day off is provided during the holiday period.

The history and tradition of the World Donor Day holiday

The International Day was established in May 2005 during the 58th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Its main objective is to raise public awareness of the urgent need for blood and plasma donation, as well as to encourage both new and existing donors to donate blood in order to ensure a stable and sufficient supply of blood.

The date of the celebration was not chosen by chance. On this day in 1868, the Austrian physician and immunologist, Nobel Prize winner in medicine Karl Landsteiner was born. The scientist worked as an assistant at the Vienna Institute of Pathology. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he first discovered human blood types by sampling himself and five of his employees.

The discovery was a real breakthrough in medicine and allowed for safe blood transfusion, which means it saved the lives of many people. Blood transfusion soon became a daily medical practice on all continents.

It was decided to honor the memory of the great scientist and celebrate the contribution of all blood donors on a separate date 20 years ago. The initiators of the Donor Day were the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Society for Blood Transfusion and several other international organizations.

In a number of countries around the world, including Russia, the holiday is celebrated annually, attaching great importance to it. In addition, our country celebrates National Donor Day on April 20.

World Blood Donor Day in 2024 — traditions

Educational campaigns and other events are held all over the world on this day. They talk about how to become a donor, how safe it is, and the importance of donated blood for emergency medical care.

Specialized websites publish stories of people whose lives were saved by a blood transfusion. And gift certificates are raffled off at donor centers, allowing you to win valuable prizes.

The holiday also awards citizens who have repeatedly donated blood or its components to save lives. There is also such a practice in Russia, which is awarding the title of "Honorary Donor." In addition to the badge, Russians receive additional benefits and privileges, such as the right to free travel on all types of public transport.

World Blood Donor Day in 2025: theme and events

Each year, the events are united by one common theme, which is announced annually by the World Health Organization. In 2025, the theme is "Donate blood, give hope: together we will save lives." Within its framework, the organizers call on the Governments of countries and WHO partners to mobilize donor support and strengthen investments in relevant national programs in order to achieve universal access to safe blood transfusion worldwide.

Last year, the holiday was celebrated for the 20th time. It was held under the motto "Donor Day is 20 years old: we thank donors." Its purpose was to express gratitude to blood donors, demonstrate the achievements and challenges of national transfusion programs, and popularize the practice of regular blood donation.

Themes from previous years: "Blood donation is an act of solidarity. Become a donor and save lives", "Give life — become a blood donor", "Donate blood, donate blood plasma, share your life and do it often", "Donate blood. Let the world throb with life."

How to become a donor in Russia

Blood donation is required all the time. First of all, to provide assistance to victims of accidents, patients of surgical and oncological departments, children with severe anemia, and women with complications during pregnancy and childbirth. However, it is not available everywhere.

The greatest shortage of donated blood is observed in low- and middle-income countries. And the only guarantee that everyone will be able to access blood, if necessary, is the widespread participation of the population in regular blood donation.

According to Russian law, any citizen between the ages of 18 and 65 can become a blood donor and its components. An important condition is the absence of medical contraindications and a weight of more than 50 kg. Alcohol consumption, taking medications, HIV infection, infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as pregnancy and lactation may be the reasons for rejection of donation.

Blood donation takes place at special blood transfusion points, which operate in many city hospitals, after the initial clinical and laboratory examination. The blood sampling itself takes about 10-15 minutes. The standard volume of whole blood donation is 450 ml, which is about 7% of an adult's blood volume.

The maximum amount of blood donation for men is five times a year, for women — four times a year. At least 60 days must pass between blood donations.

Earlier, Izvestia reported that the number of bone marrow donors has increased in Russia.