The Malaysia Blood Donors Society (Sedarah Malaysia) plans to increase the number of blood donation campaigns in 2025 after closing out the year with a successful event on Dec 21.
Sedarah Malaysia’s chairman, Michael James Alwis, said the non-governmental organisation hopes to engage with more corporate sponsors to increase the number of blood donation campaigns from the 15 it organised this year, to 30.
He also said Sedarah Malaysia plans to organise a fun run on June 14 to coincide with World Blood Donation Day.
“We had a tremendous turnout on Dec 21 at a shopping complex off Jalan Klang Lama. It was an early Christmas present to see so many wonderful people of all races coming together to donate blood,” said James.
“I would like to thank our host, sponsors, and dedicated volunteers for their time and effort.
“But it doesn’t stop here. We still urgently need more blood for the national blood bank, and we hope to organise more campaigns in 2025 – at least 30 – and to revive our annual fun run on World Blood Donation Day (June 14).”
James said Sedarah Malaysia has not organised a fun run since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
“You only need 30 minutes to recuperate after donating blood, so you can do it before the race, or after,” he said.
“We once had a run in Sarawak, which was a success. The plan is to have at least 30 donation campaigns in 2025, including the fun run.
“We also have a mobile unit which can accommodate four donors at any time. Our biggest problem is trying to find funds.”
James said Sedarah Malaysia doesn’t have VVIPs as patrons, as it wants to keep its work as simple as possible.
“Our purpose is to educate the public about blood donation. We don’t need much fanfare, so we don’t involve VVIPs,” he said.
“Everything we do is under the auspices of the National Blood Centre, and we are a non-profit organisation.”
Earlier this year, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad urged more Malaysians to donate blood to meet the national daily demand of at least 2,000 blood bags.
The ministry’s Transfusion Medicine Services is also targeting a national blood donation rate of 35 to 40 donors per 1,000 people by 2030, up from the current rate of 22.5.
