Mexico promotes a change for a greater guarantee of life for its citizens
Through a Project to Amend the General Health Law and the General Law of Education, the aim is to establish a culture of voluntary, altruistic and habitual donation of safe blood in Mexico. The legislative proposal ensures that the achievement of this objective translates into a greater guarantee of the right to life and the right to health of all citizens.
The project has been introduced by the New Alliance Parliamentary Group, headed by federal deputy Karina Sánchez Ruiz, in the LXIII Legislature of the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union for final approval. This initiative is being promoted and sponsored by the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace (GEAP), through the Integral Blood Donation Program "Life is in the Blood".
According to the National Blood Transfusion Center, in Mexico there are about two million donors, and of these, only 3.8% of blood donations are obtained altruistically, a minimum figure to that established by the WHO and PAHO, organizations which estimate that at least 2% of the population should donate blood repetitively to cover the blood needs of a country, in addition, that an adequate and reliable supply of safe blood can only be ensured by regular, unpaid volunteer blood donors.
Currently, in Latin America, only Cuba and Nicaragua collect 100% of their blood from voluntary donors, the rest continue to depend on donations from families or relatives, and from paid donors, group that Mexico is in.
Competent organizations have realized that previous reforms to the General Health Law, to promote the donation of blood and its components, have been insufficient, because, despite the fact that society has become more aware of the importance and necessity of donation of altruistic blood, it is an unusual action in the State.
With this law amendment, proposes to create the conditions that promote the continuous access of safe blood, among these, a work of awareness to be held in government offices of the three orders of government, in educational spaces, in production plants, and in civil society organizations. In this way, they estimate to increase the blood supply and ensure a higher standard of safety in obtaining plasma and its derivatives, which would help save more lives and improve the health conditions of all people who need a transfusion.
The call to support this initiative is made to all public, private and civil society entities. The message is addressed to all Mexicans, making them participants in this project for the benefit of the nation.
For a conscious society
The initiative considers that blood donation requires a legal basis that guarantees the adequacy of the procedure and the transparency of the system. The project promotes the expansion of perspectives that contribute to providing life expectancy to all people who need this vital liquid tissue.
«Donating blood is a duty of solidarity that people have, which cannot be remunerated for any reason»
Under this conception, one of the main objectives is for society to understand that the blood donated is for society. Blood donation is promoted as a medical, ethical activity and framed in the principles of equity, transparency, and justice, in order to encourage altruistic action in society.
In this sense, one of the strategies consists in establishing the conditions that encourage the altruistic and habitual blood donation culture, by sensitizing the population of the benefits that this activity represents. Include the social commitment of the moral persons (official, mercantile, social) and that from their spaces promote the voluntary donation of blood to achieve a supply that gives full coverage to the demand.
The obligation of the State
The proposed law emphasizes that the State has the obligation to guarantee the right to life and the right to health as fundamental rights of people in its territory, and in turn, stresses that the promotion of altruistic and habitual donation of safe blood constitutes a guarantor mechanism of the Mexican State to achieve such protection, in the case of people who depend on one or several blood transfusions to continue living.
For this reason, the proposal includes the periodic organization, in all the facilities of government agencies, workshops, forums, exhibitions, fairs or conferences on the subject of blood donation, to generate awareness and commitment to the voluntary act.
Civic and solidarity duty to students
Recognition of life givers
As part of the Integral Program "Life is in the Blood", the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace recognizes the action of voluntary, altruistic and habitual blood donors. So, every 14 June, in celebration of the World Day of Blood Donor Day, in Mexico and in other countries of America, the GEAP distinguishes people who have joined this initiative to save human lives and improve the quality of life of millions of patients, voluntarily and disinterestedly, by what are recognized as heroes for life.
Through special acts, together with blood banks and health centers, the will, solidarity and love of the altruistic donors are celebrated, in turn, awareness-raising activities are organized to promote this action in society.
