Significant in quantity, invaluable in value, the offer of our fellow citizens in this voluntary blood donation organized by the Municipality of Glyfada, in cooperation with the Asclepion of Voula. Dozens of bottles of blood were collected today, as Glyfadians once again showed their love and solidarity to their fellow man.
“Every blood donation can save three lives. A blood donor gives only 10 minutes of his time and 400cc of blood out of the 6 litres available in his body. The blood given is replenished within 10 minutes. This process is a supreme act of love and solidarity towards fellow human beings, and is also beneficial for the donor himself, as the bone marrow is mobilised to produce new blood cells. We are very proud that our fellow citizens respond each time with such a willingness to the call for blood donation and we thank them very much for this”, said the Mayor of Glyfada George Papanikolaou.
“We thank our fellow citizens from the bottom of our hearts for this offer of life, it is priceless. Blood donation is the most practical offer of love and solidarity. The employees of the Social Service of our Municipality, for their part, offered their best today, making sure that the conditions for the volunteer blood donors are excellent”, underlined the Deputy Mayor of Social Care and Solidarity Eleni Karahou – Skoutari, who was in charge of coordinating the action. Among the citizens who donated blood, was the Municipal Councillor, former Deputy Mayor Yannis Skaltsas.
The blood bank of the Municipality of Glyfada was created by the municipal authority on 3 October 2014 -at the beginning of the first term of office of the Mayor of Glyfada George Papanikolaou- and since then it covers the needs of the citizens in blood, with special attention to emergency cases or cases requiring large quantities of blood, with priority given to those suffering from thalassemia, kidney patients, hemophiliacs, people with no relatives and cases involving children up to 18 years of age.
According to official figures, 600,000 units are needed annually to meet the needs of the whole country. Only 40% of these are covered by voluntary blood donors, which demonstrates the enormous value of this offer.