March 27th is National Blood Donor Day, with the aim of this date to honor all those who donate blood for the benefit of patients.
This year, to mark the date, the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplantation (IPST) organized a public thanks ceremony for blood donors, which took place on the morning of March 27th, at the Almeida Garrett Library in Palácio de Cristal, in Porto .
Who can donate blood?
Anyone in good health, healthy lifestyle habits, weighing 50 kg or more and aged between 18 and 65 years old can donate blood. Blood donations can be made every four months by women and every three months by men.
Hospital Prof. Doctor Fernando Fonseca, EPE | Do you want to be a blood donor? Everything you need to know - Hospital Prof. Doctor Fernando Fonseca, EPE
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Blood types A and O are the most common and AB and B are rarer. People with type O blood can donate blood to anyone, but they can only receive donations from people with the same blood type. On the other hand, people with type AB can receive blood from anyone, but can only donate to people with the same blood type. People with type A blood can only donate to others with type A or type AB, just as those with type B can only donate to B and AB.
In addition to blood types, there is the RH factor, which determines whether the blood type is positive or negative and influences blood compatibility. Thus, people with positive blood can receive from people with any RH, but can only donate to others with positive blood. While, if the blood is RH negative, they can donate to people with positive or negative blood, but can only receive negative blood.
On June 4th, World Blood Donor Day is celebrated.