Lions Club honours active blood donors

The Lions Club International on Sunday felicitated blood donors who have been actively responding to the calls of those in need and helping save lives.

The event was organised to observe World Blood Donor Day. This year, the World Heath Organisation (WHO) campaign is ‘Thank you for saving my life’. From 2014 to January 2015, the Lions Club International has collected 6,910 units of blood by conducting 108 blood donation camps.

Ola Cabs has joined hands with the Indian Red Cross Society and is offering citizens a chance to donate blood. Donors from Bengaluru could use the Ola app to head to the City’s Red Cross blood donation camp for free.

Anand Subramanian, Director, Marketing Communications, Ola, said: “Blood donation is a noble cause and every blood donor is essentially a life saver. Through this joint initiative with Red Cross, we are giving access to millions of customers, who use the Ola app, to do their bit by donating blood with just a few taps on their smartphones this World Blood Donor Day.”

Basrur Rajeev Shetty, Chairman, Indian Red Cross Society, Karnataka State Branch, said that there was a shortage of three million units of blood a year. “According to a 2012 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), only nine million units of blood are collected annually, while the need is for 12 million units,” he said.

Several other blood donation camps were organised across Karnataka by voluntary organisations to mark the World Blood Donor Day.