 Hello everyone, I am Dr. Divya Setia, consultant in the Department of Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine at Manipal Hospital, Jaipur. It is indeed a pleasure to be talking about World Blood Donor Day today. 14th June has been designated as World Blood Donor Day by the WHO and this day was created to raise awareness about the need of safe blood for transfusion. Blood transfusion saves millions of lives every year. It is a life-saving gift. It is a resource which is vital for the management of patients who are bleeding, who are victims of trauma, patients with severe anemia, patients with bone marrow disorders and those undergoing medical and surgical procedures. The need for blood is universal. However, access to blood is not universal. To maintain an adequate supply of blood, at least one to three percent of the population needs to donate blood. However, this is not so. In a large country such as ours, where so many people are dependent on blood transfusions, every unit that is collected makes a difference. The safest unit that is donated comes from unpaid voluntary donors who donate for altruistic reasons. Why? Because the prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections is lowest in this donor category. So, this day brings an opportunity for all blood centers to increase their collections from voluntary donors. I would request healthcare professionals who touch so many lives every day to look for young healthy adults who have not donated before and motivate them to start donating and urge regular donors to continue donating. This year's theme is Blood Donation is an Act of Solidarity. So, let us join hands and celebrate the altruism of these heroes from 10th to 14th of June 2022 at Manipal Hospital, Jaipur. Thank you.