26.09 Around 60 RIA employees give blood to help cancer-struck children
MOSCOW, September, 23 RIA Novosti. Around 60 RIA Novosti employees have given blood to help young patients at the Dmitry Rogachev Centre for Children's Hematology. Donor Day, which took place on September 23, was organized by RIA Novosti in cooperation with the Podari Zhizn (Gift of Life) charity foundation and the Blood Centre of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA).
Saving lives in a work break
We expected a turn-out of about 50 people, but a total of 60 RIA Novosti employees came and donated over 13 liters of blood. Many have praised these mobile donation efforts for their convenience, saying they had long wanted to give blood but for one reason or another could not find time on workdays. Campaigns such as this are ideal for people who do not have a steady working schedule, said Natalia Sergeyeva, who organized the event.
The medical procedures were carried out by a special FMBA mobile medical team. According to Dmitry Syskov, Head of the Department for Blood Donation Development at the FMBAs Blood Centre, the event lived up to the specialists best expectations.
The donated blood will be given to the Dmitry Rogachev Centre for Childrens Hematology which helps children with blood disorders, oncological diseases and other serious conditions, the treatment for which makes blood transfusions absolutely crucial.
Raising public awareness
We are delighted that such a large media organization as RIA Novosti joined our donation project. Together we can not only attain our primary goal and collect blood, but hit an equally important mark by raising awareness about the importance of blood donation in Russia, Dmitry Syskov said.
In Russia, the amount of donated blood is currently far below the required amount.
To provide for sufficient bloodstock at medical facilities, a country should have forty donors for every thousand residents. By way of comparison, in Europe the figures are 25 to 27 donors for every thousand people, in Canada and the U.S. 35 to 40, while in Russia, given the same ratio, only about 14 people give blood. In the West, blood donation has long been considered normal. In our country, the problem is not just that we lack available blood, but that people have little idea why it is necessary. That's why we welcome a media company joining our effort as it gives us a beneficial side effect in heightened public awareness about the importance of blood donation, says Natalia Zamayeva, Mobile Blood Donations Coordinator at the Podari Zhizn Foundation.
Podari Zhizn, together with a number of blood service teams, has been regularly organizing mobile donation events since 2007. Nearly 200 Russian companies, educational and state institutions have since taken part.
RIA Novosti and charity work
RIA Novosti Group is actively cooperating with many charity foundations and volunteer organizations in Russia and across the world. One of RIA's educational projects, Zhizn bez Pregrad (Life without Limits), is focuses on charity issues alone. In February 2013, RIA Novosti was given the Liniya Zhizni (Line of Life) award for extensive coverage of charity-related topics. Twice a year for 16 years, RIA Novosti employees have held charity holiday events for children from the children's homes under RIA Novostis patronage.
Since 2011, RIA's journalists have been involved in the running of two nursing homes for the elderly and the disabled in Yaroslavl Region.
In June 2013 RIA Novosti published an audio book of fairy-tales for children with impaired vision.
In addition, RIA Novosti has a special donation box in which employees put clothes and gifts which are subsequently given to the Spraveldlivaya Pomoshch (Just Help) Charitable Foundation.
