Mysore/Mysuru: As part of National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, heads of various Associations and Organisations were given Certificate of Appreciation at a programme organised under the joint aegis of District Health and Family Welfare Department and Jeevadhara Blood Bank at its premises here recently.

Speaking on the occasion, K.R. Hospital Blood Bank Officer Dr. B.S. Manjunath said that though there is an alternative to water, food and the like, there is no alternative at all to blood.

Stressing on the need for voluntary blood donation by healthy members of the public, he observed that blood donation is most noble as it saves many lives.

Noting that all healthy youths above 18 years of age can donate blood, he called for spreading awareness in public domain on the importance of blood donation.

Heads of various Organisations like Blood on Call Club, SDM-MMK College, Rotary Mysore, The Better Hands, Terapanth Yuva Parishad, The National Institute of Engineering, ATME College of Engineering, Infosys, Hindustan College, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Nexus Centre City Mall and International Youth Hostels, which had organised a good number of blood donation camps, were distributed appreciation certificates. Also, more than 20 members of the public who had voluntarily donated blood more than 30 times were honoured on the occasion.

District AIDS Control Officer Dr. Mohammad Siraj Ahmed, Rotary Mysore President Arun Belawadi, Asha Kirana Charitable Trust Trustee K.S. Gururaja, Lion Srinivas, Jeevadhara Blood Bank Director Girish, Muthanna, Rashmi, Mamatha, Suresh and others were present.