The Mellieħa Local Council took the initiative to lit up in red light Misrah iz-Zjara tal-Papa and Triq Qasam Barrani monument until Monday, 14th June 2021 to commemorate World Blood Donor Day.
Some information for those who would like to donate blood:
One can donate blood from the age of 18 till 68th Birthday. Males can donate blood every three months and females every four months. A donor needs to take with him the ID Card, driving licence or Maltese passport. Those willing to give blood will undergo a basic medical examination.
Blood donations take place at the Transfusion Centre in Guardamangia, including Sundays and Public Holidays between 8am and 6pm. One can also visit one of the mobile blood donations units that frequently visit work places and village squares.
All necessary precautions are taken;
If you are waiting to take or receive result of swab test you cannot donate blood until a Covid 19 negative result is issued;
one has to leave 48 hours to donate blood after Covid 19 vaccine is taken. If symptoms of fever of influenza arise, one has to leave 7 days before donating.
if you donate blood you have to leave 7 days before taking the Covid 19 vaccine
The scopes of lighting these buildings in red are:
To publicly thank and show appreciation to the thousands of blood donors who give blood on a voluntary and non remunerated basis. Thanks to them, the National Health Services in Malta and Gozo continued without interruption, even during the pandemic. If this was not the case, patients would have suffered or come to a point of loosing their life.
To encourage existing donors to continue giving blood on a regular basis.
To create more awareness for the constant need of blood donations and encourage healthy people, particularly the youths, to come forward and start giving blood.