Address of the Secretary General of the Red Cross of RNM, PhD. Sait Saiti on the occasion of promotion of the First Aid Campaign

It is a special honor and pleasure for me to greet you on the occasion of the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, May 8, when we return to our beginnings, to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross, which constantly makes progress locally and globally, contributing to the promotion of health and the well-being of people in various spheres of social life.

One of the basic tasks of the Red Cross, in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and the Law on the Red Cross, is to assist the institutions in the country in providing complementary support for dealing with the consequences of natural disasters, restoring separated families as a result of war and migration and providing services aimed at promoting the health and safety of people and providing support for different social categories of beneficiaries.

Our citizens especially recognize us for our activities for raising the awareness of the population for protection and prevention of various diseases, promotion of blood donation and of course through the activities we organize to improve the skills for first aid in the country. With great pleasure today I want to draw your attention on the first aid, on this humanitarian activity that we have been successfully implementing for decades in order to improve the life-saving skills of our citizens.

Every day thousands of people around the world lose their lives or suffer unnecessarily as a result of untimely and inadequate first aid. Of course, we can change this significantly if we change the perception of people in order to be more aware of the importance and the need to train them to properly provide first aid.

First aid is the initial care for an injured or suddenly ill person. That care means timely undertaking of careful procedures, measures and activities to save the life of the injured, protection from further injury, reduction of pain and fear and prevention of possible complications.

Over the years, the Red Cross has made a special contribution in the Republic of North Macedonia in promoting first aid. We organize courses for training of candidates for drivers as well as first aid trainings for companies. But we make a special contribution in promoting first aid in the educational institutions where from an early age we teach young people how to properly provide first aid. We also organize municipal and national first aid competitions for young people in order to further raise their awareness and improve their knowledge of first aid.

In the same spirit, today we want to announce the launching of the new campaign of the Red Cross to promote first aid, which we will implement under the motto “First aid saves lives.” In frames of the campaign, the Red Cross will conduct free first aid trainings, aiming to reach 25,000 children from primary and secondary schools. We will conduct the campaign with our Red Cross branches throughout the country. In these trainings, children will have the opportunity to gain basic knowledge on first aid as a quick and vital intervention aimed at saving human life, but also to reduce the complications of injuries and disability.

But first aid is not just knowledge and the ability to perform life-saving skills. First aid is humanity in action, a desire to help, with full respect for diversity and without discrimination. First aid is a gesture of solidarity, a gesture that mobilizes people and communities to preserve and protect life.

Dear,

We sincerely hope that you will join us in the activities we will implement in frames of our campaign which also aims to inspire young people in schools with the spirit of humanity and kindness whose message is woven into the celebration of today’s holiday of the Red Cross. We hope that many of these young people in the future will become part of the Red Cross Movement and will continue to promote solidarity and humanity, which will make our country a more pleasant place to live.

Thank you