PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function marking the World Blood Donor Day on Wednesday stressed the need for coordinated efforts to create awareness among the masses to voluntarily donate blood to save precious lives.

The event was organised by Hamza Foundation Welfare Hospital and Blood Services at the Peshawar Press Club, which was attended by people from different walks of life.

The participants also held a walk, holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans to encourage public for donating blood to the people in need.

Aijaz Ali Khan, chairman of the charity organisation, said the tendency of blood donationsin underdeveloped countries was very low due to lack of proper education and awareness in general public.

He said this year the blood donations day was observed under the theme: What can you do? give blood, give now, give often`.

Noted Pashto poet and educationist Prof Abaseen Yousafzai, and representa-tives of blood donors` partners, and families were also present.

Aijaz Khan said the creation of awareness on voluntary blood donation wasessential to encourage the general public to come forward and support the needy people by donating blood.

He urged the young generation to comeforward and donate blood voluntarily through special camps to ensure adequate availability of blood in local healthcare centres.

He said blood donation ratio was about 3.6 per cent in Pakistan, which was insufficient to meet requirements of needy patients on emergency basis.

Aijaz Khan said his organisation had so far registered 1,144 child patients suffering from thalassaemia, hemophilia, and blood cancer.

He said as many as 81,797 blood bags had been collected by organising blood collection and motivation camps in various educational institutions, rellgious seminaries, offices and public places.

He said his organisation was ensuring to get protected and pure blood for this purpose, adding it was organising camps under supervision of health experts.

He urged the provincial education department to give additional 10 marks to those students who were donating blood.

He also demanded of the provincial government to increase the current grant for the organisation to help it meet the growing annual expenses.