City Pharmacy in partnership with the Port Moresby General Hospital, Sir Brian Bell Foundation Centre for Transfusion Medicine and the Blood Bank today commemorated the World Blood Donor Day at the Central Waigani Stop N Shop center, with the theme “Donating Blood Is an Act of Solidarity.” This was done to celebrate the huge contribution of blood donors and to shed light on the importance of blood donation and its impact to saving lives in the country. Master of Ceremony, Dr. Derrick Nagul stressed on the importance of the day stating that the commemoration of World Blood Donor Day is to shed light on the need for blood transfusion and awareness for blood donation. Present at the event were senior members of the Port Moresby General Hospital and the CEO of the CPL Group of companies, Mr Navin Raju. Mr. Raju thanked the guests and partners present and urged the general public that by donating blood they can save lives. “Doctors save lives by giving treatment, you can save lives as well,” he said. After opening the event with a prayer by Pastor Leroy Nosi, Dr. Merrilyn Mathias was the first to guest speaker to step up and speak about WBTD. Dr. Mathias expressed with great delight that it was a special day as it is celebrated on the birthday of famous Austrian Physician Carl Landsteiner, who pioneered the discovery of the main blood groups in 1900. The day was chosen in 2004 to commemorate his birthday and celebrate the courage of people that do voluntary blood transfusions. She also added blood is a gift that cannot be manufactured. Also part of the program and guest speaker was the Director for Medical Services, Dr. Kone Sobi. Dr. Sobi stressed that today was about remembering those who save lives. “Today we remember those that save lives. We also remember that we carry a precious commodity within us,” he said. He added that the last two years have been challenging as due to the pandemic, the number of blood donated had dropped. Now with the Covid-19 restrictions slackened, those who wish to donate can head over to the blood bank and do so.