Every year 14 June is designated “World Blood Donor Day”. The Macau Health Bureau launched a series of activities on that day to pay respect to blood donors and remind citizens of the importance of donating blood to help others.

The date commemorates the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian-American immunologist and pathologist, who discovered the A, B and O blood groups. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930 for his study of blood groups and the development of the modern blood transfusion system. In 2004, the World Health Organization designated 14 June as the “World Blood Donor Day” to encourage more people around the world to give blood and save lives.

The theme of this year’s World Blood Donor Day is “Your blood is his/her hope of survival, please donate blood frequently and share life!” The Macau Health Bureau launched a series of activities, including hanging blood donation banners on lampposts in the streets of various districts in Macau and Taipa and holding the “Five times blood donor award ceremony”. Souvenirs were given to any donor who gave blood on 14 June and souvenirs were also sent to government departments and local schools that had assisted in organizing blood donation activities last year.

The Health Bureau invited donors who had given blood five times in 2022 to attend the “Five times blood donor awards ceremony” and presented these donors with award certificates. Cheang Seng Ip, Acting Director of the Health Bureau, said in his speech, “The ‘Five times blood donor award ceremony’ is held on the occasion of World Blood Donor Day to publicly recognize and thank those who have donated blood five times in a year in Macau.”