Blood donation: a unique gift to share

During its campaign under the theme "Share a unique gift. Give blood. Give life.", Héma-Québec visits the regions of Québec to welcome thousands of blood donors.

Héma-Québec would like to remind the public that the need for blood is a daily concern. It is important to keep this sharing network going, so that blood products remain available to patients.

To make this generous deed, donors can either attend mobile blood drives that will take place during this period or visit one of the GLOBULE Blood Donor Centres, at Place Versailles and at 4045 Côte-Vertu Boulevard.

To receive more information on blood drives locations and schedules, donors can dial 1-800-343-7264 or visit Héma-Québec's Web site at www.hema-quebec.qc.ca.

There is no longer an upper age limit for giving blood in Québec. Any healthy person aged 18 years and older who meets Héma-Québec's eligibility criteria can give blood every 56 days, namely six times per year.

Giving blood during the holiday season is a free gift, but to all the people who will receive it in order to recover their health, it is priceless.

Created in 1998, Héma-Québec's mission is to efficiently provide adequate quantities of safe, optimal blood components, substitutes, human tissues and cord blood to meet the needs of all Quebecers; provide and develop expertise along with specialized and innovative services and products in the fields of transfusion medicine and human tissue transplantation.

Héma-Québec is 1,300 employees, some 3,000 days of blood drives and more than 300,000 blood donors each year, 16,000 volunteer partners and 400,000 blood products delivered each year to Québec hospitals to meet patients' needs.