March 24, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
It’s a great pleasure, on behalf of the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia, to warmly welcome you to the celebration of the Blood Donation Day in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The Red Cross of the Republic of Northern Macedonia marks the 77th anniversary of its foundation. Undoubtedly, we must remind ourselves that March 17 is the day when we recognize the incredible contribution and achievements of our volunteers and staff who nurture solidarity and commitment to humanity. We live in a time when, all over the world, crises are becoming more complex, and the humanitarian need is enormous. More and more lives are being destroyed by armed conflict, violence and climate change, and when natural disasters occur, the situation is more severe and more numerous. The complex new dynamics that are characteristic in times of natural disasters and various conflicts mean one thing – that the work of our volunteers and Red Cross staff is more important than ever.
March 17 is also the Blood Donation Day in the Republic of North Macedonia, the Day of the bravest among us, the blood donors. That is why I want to pay tribute to all those who donate blood and blood plasma and I would like to express gratitude to the people who save lives in this way. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we continuously called on blood donors to continue their essential service to support and maintain our health care system. Despite all the difficulties and unintended consequences, the preparedness of the citizens to donate in increasing numbers is confirmed, ensuring the necessary and blood supplies. One thing will always remain constant: by donating blood, donors save lives. And for that, we will always be grateful.
I would like to emphasize humanity, because it is our only guide in order to continue our work harder and more actively in the future. In the past year, excellent results have been achieved in the field of blood donation in RNM. The planned obligations have been fulfilled, all blood needs have been provided in a timely manner. Only with joint efforts and continuous support of state institutions we can achieve high standards for safe blood and guarantee national self-sufficiency with the necessary blood units.
In 2021, the Red Cross of the RNM in cooperation with the Institute for Transfusion Medicine in the RNM organized 683 blood donation actions through which a total of 53,133 blood units were collected.
On this occasion, let me once again congratulate the Blood Donors’ Day and send congratulations to the Red Cross branches for the achieved results.
