Lt Gen (Retd) Winston Choo;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It gives me great pleasure to be here on this occasion, to join you for the Great Walk for Humanity, as well as to present Appreciation Plaques to our Champion Blood Donors.

Blood donation saves lives. This is a simple statement but captures the altruistic objective of donating blood. Blood donation involves an unselfish concern for other people, and doing something for the benefit of others at some cost to oneself. I am heartened to note that our blood donors come from all walks of society. There is no distinction between ethnic group, religious affiliation, or gender in blood donation. The only common thread is that these men and women who come forward regularly and voluntarily recognise that blood donation is an act of social responsibility, a pro-active way in which they play their part as a member of the Singaporean community. They give the gift of life with no thoughts of getting something in return. They give, because it is the noble thing to do. They are rewarded by a sense of well-being following their donation and by the feeling of having contributed to society.

Our Champion Blood Donors are here today because they have been motivated by a sense of altruism and humanitarianism to donate blood voluntarily to help others. I am pleased to have the opportunity today to thank and to congratulate them for their strong support and contribution to the national blood programme and to the community.

As early as 1975, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to promote the development of national blood transfusion services based on voluntary non-remunerated blood donation. Recruitment of volunteer blood donors is also supported by organisations worldwide such as the International Society of Blood Transfusion and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This is because it has been proven that the safest blood comes from volunteer non-remunerated blood donors who donate blood to the community because they want to save lives.

After nearly quarter of a century, this is becoming a reality in many developed countries. However, of the estimated global estimate of 75 million donations per annum, 6 million still come from paid donations and 14 million from family or replacement donations, mostly in developing countries. For this reason, there is now a concerted move in many countries to promote voluntary non-remunerated blood donations as part of a global blood safety initiative. In Singapore, blood donation is voluntary and non-remunerated, and this has contributed to a great extent to the safety of our blood supply.

We are confident based on our experience during the Spyros and Hotel New World disasters, and more recently the SQ006 accident, that Singaporeans will come forward generously and voluntarily to donate blood during an emergency. However, it is not enough to come forward only during times of disaster. We need blood donors to donate regularly so that there is always a ready supply of blood for our healthcare services and should emergencies arise. We must also remember that 200 blood donations are needed every day by the patients in our hospitals.

Most Singaporeans will require a blood transfusion at some point in their lives but, only 1% of our total population donate blood every year. Many of our blood donors give blood infrequently, and much of the nation’s blood supply comes from a small number of dedicated and frequent blood donors such as the Champion Blood Donors with us today. Much still needs to be done to encourage more Singaporeans to come forward to donate blood. In this regard, it is a great advantage that the Singapore Red Cross Society is now an active partner with the Health Sciences Authority in donor recruitment and retention. We find the SRCS very creative and innovative in its approach and we should therefore be more successful.

A comprehensive programme is now being developed for students in tertiary institutions and junior colleges to help them understand the importance of blood donation and how they can demonstrate their social responsibility and concern for the community through blood donation and related activities. While the cornerstone of this programme is blood donation, other skills such as life-saving, community service, global citizenship and leadership will also be imparted. Through this programme, the Singapore Red Cross Society hopes to build strong community values such as caring and giving in our youths.

May I conclude by once again congratulating our Champion Blood Donors and thanking them for their invaluable contributions to society. Champion Blood Donors have a very important part to play as role models to encourage more Singaporeans to be blood donors and to give the gift of life. We hope that through your efforts and example, more Singaporeans will be inspired to also come forward regularly as voluntary blood donors.