World Blood Donor Day Drop-In Event

I attended the World Blood Donor event on 14 June 2023 to mark World Blood Donor Day, organised by Sarah Olney MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion.

The event was held to raise awareness of the need to increase the number of registered blood donors in the UK, particularly from minority ethnic backgrounds, and was attended by several existing donors.

The NHS’s Blood and Transplant division aims to recruit 140,000 new blood donors this year, aiming to ensure 12,000 of these are from black, Asian, mixed and minority ethnic backgrounds. This is particularly important considering the rise in Sickle Cell disease diagnoses, which now number over 17,500 a year, which primarily affect these communities.

It was good to meet campaigners of such an important cause. 18% of the UK population and 34.5% of our students are from ethnic minority backgrounds,  and our National Health Service needs to do more to meet their specific health needs.

There are major healthcare disparities in blood transfusion for mixed and minority ethnic patients. We must remember that without donors, we can’t make the necessary changes.

Details to become a registered blood donor can be found on the National Health Service Blood and Transplant website. Here is the link for the Cross-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion,www.teammargot.com/appg