Today, June 14, World Blood Donor Day, one of the global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), is celebrated worldwide to raise awareness about the importance of blood and blood resources and thank voluntary blood donors whose generosity helps save lives.

Good blood health is a prerequisite for a healthy life. Blood is essential to the functioning of the human body but several blood disorders or common blood conditions like anemia bring risks to people’s health. Millions of patients worldwide may also require safe donor blood at some point in the treatment of their disease. Better management of a patient’s own blood, through the implementation of Patient Blood Management (PBM) and therapeutic innovations, can improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients, while supporting the sustainability and resilience of health systems, contributing to reduced blood shortages or reliance on blood supplies.

Later this month, the European Commission will host the Conference on the new Regulation on Substances of Human Origin (SoHO), adopted by the EU institutions recently. The Conference will discuss important elements for the successful implementation of this EU SoHO legislation.

Blood and Beyond welcomes the WHO and EU’s efforts to strengthen health systems and foster the implementation of patient-centric approaches to improve blood health while supporting patients’ access to the care and treatments they need.