Every year in June, Lifeblood celebrates over half a million of our donors who make a difference through their generous life-saving blood donations. Each year, around World Blood Donor Day on 14 June, Lifeblood is proud to host National Blood Donor Week — it’s our way of recognising the impact and importance of our wonderful donors.

Why donate blood?

• Blood that’s taken straight from a donor. After it’s donated, we usually separate blood into red blood cells, plasma and platelets in our labs.
• Red blood cells only last 42 days from when they’re donated. Australia needs over 1.7 million donations every year to meet demand: that’s three every minute.
• Did you know one blood donation can save up to three lives? Just think about how many lives you could change by coming back for more.

• Get Involved :
• Donate Blood
• Spread awareness

For more information ,visit :https://www.lifeblood.com.au/blood/learn-about-blood/why-donate-blood

Youth step in and speak out #TobaccoExposed T

World No Tobacco Day 2024 will give a platform to young people across the world, who are urging governments to shield them from predatory tobacco marketing tactics. The industry targets youth for a lifetime of profits, creating a new wave of addiction. Children are using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in all regions and globally an estimated 37 million youth aged 13–15 years use tobacco.

Key facts

• Tobacco kills up to half of its users who don’t quit (1-3).
• Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke (4).
• Around 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.
• In 2020, 22.3% of the world’s population used tobacco: 36.7% of men and 7.8% of women.
• To address the tobacco epidemic, WHO Member States adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2003. Currently 182 countries are Parties to this treaty.
• The WHO MPOWER measures are in line with the WHO FCTC and have been shown to save lives and reduce costs from averted healthcare expenditure.

Get Involved :

• Raising awareness in family, friends and social media
• Volunteer
• Host an Event

For more information :https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-no-tobacco-day/2024

Heart Week is Australia’s national heart health awareness week held in May each year. It provides an opportunity for the Australian public and health professionals to start a conversation about heart health and take positive steps to reduce their heart disease risk.

This Heart Week, we’re encouraging everyday Australians to never miss a beat by speaking to their GP about a Heart Health Check. A Heart Health Check is a 20-minute check-up with your GP to assess your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years.

If you are aged 45 and over and do not already have heart disease, we recommend you see your doctor for a Medicare-subsidised Heart Health Check. Some people may be eligible earlier, including First Nations peoples from 30 years, and from 35 years for people living with diabetes.

Get involved this MAY:

• Raise Awareness in friends and family for heart health check
• Spread a word on social media.
• Volunteer for events and

Avoid iodine deficiency in your household – daily iodine enriched foods are the foundation for your thyroid gland to perform at it’s best and avoid the consequences of iodine deficiency!

THYROID Awareness month is a campaign to spread awareness on how important a Healthy Thyroid Gland will ensure your wellbeing and daily performance are maintained.

Over 1 million Australians are living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder. .Around 14% of older Australians suffer from a clinically relevant thyroid disorder with 4% having an undiagnosed thyroid disorder. National studies in 2004 have shown that approximately 50% of Australian children and a similar percentage of pregnant women suffer from iodine deficiency. More recent smaller studies have shown that approximately 10% of pregnant women in Australia suffer from mild hypothyroidism secondary to autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s Disease). Thyroid cancer also appears to be on the increase, with 2014 thyroid cancer research showing the previous 10 years of thyroid cancer affecting an increase of 84% in women and 48% in men.

Get involved this May :

• Spreading awareness on social media
• Making a donation
• Organising a fundraiser or volunteering

For more information:https://www.thyroidfoundation.org.au/TAM

Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity.

Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into communities. This week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.

There are some fascinating statistics about Australia’s diversity that can be good conversation-starters:

• nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was
• we identify with over 300 ancestries
• since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia
• 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia
• apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi
• more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.

Everyone can get involved this March by:

• Communicating the importance of cultural diversity
• Encouraging the values of respect, equality and freedom
• Promoting harmony in the workplace, at home and in schools

For more information, visit: https://www.harmony.gov.au/

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month takes place in February in Australia. It is an important month to bring ovarian cancer into the national dialogue and broaden the understanding of this little-known disease.

Our priorities during OCAM:

Educate. Only 31% of Australians know that ovarian cancer has the poorest survival rate of any female cancer in Australia. This devastating disease suffers from a lack of awareness and progress, we will continue to spread evidence based information every Australian should know about this disease.

Advocate on behalf of those impacted by ovarian cancer for more research funding, better laws and policies, greater access to affordable treatment options and ultimately better outcomes for all those affected.

Elevate the voices of women impacted by this disease by sharing their stories, their real life experiences and getting these stories in front of as many eyes and ears as possible.

Get Involved this February:

Volunteering with the organisation

Raising awareness on social media.

For more information ,visit :

https://www.ovariancancer.net.au

On 31 May 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) recognized 30 January as World Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) Day .

A day to create better awareness on the devastating impact of NTDs on the poorest populations around the world. The day is also an opportunity to call on everyone to support the growing momentum for the control, elimination and eradication of these diseases.

NTDs are a group of conditions that affect more than a billion people who mostly live in marginalized, rural and poor urban areas and conflict zones. Although they are preventable and treatable, these diseases – and their intricate interrelationships with poverty and ecological systems – continue to cause devastating health, social and economic consequences.

Despite progress, more work is needed to end the neglect. WHO’s new road map for 2021–2030 calls for three strategic shifts to achieve this ambition:

• from measuring process to measuring impact;
• from disease-specific planning and programming to collaborative work across sectors; and
• from externally driven agendas reliant to programmes that are country-owned and country-financed.

The global NTD partnership includes hundreds of organizations that support programme implementation and contribute to working with health ministries and communities.

For More Information ,visit :https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-ntd-day