Bulgarian organization of voluntary blood donation/

Every day more than 600 people in Bulgaria have a life-saving need for blood and blood products, because of accidents, emergency life-saving procedures, surgical interventions, childbirths, different cancers and many other diseases that need blood for treatment. Their lives are directly dependent on securing the necessary quantities of safe human blood which can be obtained ONLY through DONATION OF BLOOD because BLOOD has NO substitute! Unfortunately, Bulgaria is currently in one of the last places in Europe when it comes to donating blood. Most people donate blood only for relatives or friends who are in need and the true number of genuine voluntary blood donors is less than 25% of all bl... read more Every day more than 600 people in Bulgaria have a life-saving need for blood and blood products, because of accidents, emergency life-saving procedures, surgical interventions, childbirths, different cancers and many other diseases that need blood for treatment. Their lives are directly dependent on securing the necessary quantities of safe human blood which can be obtained ONLY through DONATION OF BLOOD because BLOOD has NO substitute! Unfortunately, Bulgaria is currently in one of the last places in Europe when it comes to donating blood. Most people donate blood only for relatives or friends who are in need and the true number of genuine voluntary blood donors is less than 25% of all blood donors. Due to the very limited amount of blood donors, hospitals force patients to find donors before they can have a required treatment (the so-called "replacement donor system", which poses significant problems to the patients and their families. Also, this highly questionable practice has led to the growth of an ugly black market for blood donors.). We hope that with our joint efforts we will be able to change this situation. BULGARIAN ORGANIZATION OF VOLUNTARY BLOOD DONATION is a non-profit association operating in public interest done by volunteers. We are the first Bulgarian association working entirely to encourage and promote regular, anonymous, voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation. We believe that blood donation is one of the most humane acts. We also believe that our cause is extremely important for every human being because the shortage of blood could affect everyone. In our daily activities we provide information about blood donation, answer questions and give support; help in cases of an urgent need for blood; organize blood drives and campaigns to educate and inspire people to donate. In 2013 BOVBD launched the first-of-its-kind for Bulgaria long-term project called "Donate Blood", aimed at promoting and facilitating voluntary blood donation and helping those in need of blood for themselves or their relatives. The core of this project lies with the "Donate Blood" system, entirely managed and administrated by BOVBD. The system is a sort of dual registry and has two main functionalities that are interlinked - on one side for the people who are voluntary blood donors or wish to become such and help, and on the other - for everyone who needs blood. The system is extremely useful for finding blood donors on time. It is an innovative and very effective tool to at least partially fulfil the need for blood in Bulgaria and to help when the need is urgent. "Donate blood" can be used completely free through our mobile phone applications for iPhone and Android. Every user has constant access to important and useful information about blood donation, offered through the BOVBD website - www.bgblood.org, including the prerequisites and contradictions for donating blood, addresses and contact details for blood centres in the country, blood collection campaigns that are ongoing or upcoming, etc. Our ambition is to upgrade the applications with additional functionalities when we have enough funding. By focusing the public attention on the problems that arise from the lack of information on blood donation and its importance, from the insufficient number of voluntary blood donors and the risks of paid donors, we are working together to resolve them. The World Health Organization proclaims voluntary blood donation as the safest method for collecting the necessary quantities of blood and blood products needed in everyday healthcare. We hope and work for so that one day there will be enough voluntary blood donors and we, our kids, our parents and everyone who needs blood or could find himself in need of blood to be sure that there is enough safe blood that would help to save his life.