To date, 21,500 people have gone short-sleeved

Montréal, Wednesday, July 11, 2006 – Since June 12, the date when the “This summer, go short-sleeved. Give blood. Give life.” campaign began, Héma-Québec has welcomed 20,500 donors at blood drives held throughout Québec.

With the construction holiday just around the corner, Héma-Québec is calling on Quebecers to keep up their generosity and donate at blood drives. Summer is the ideal time to commit this heroic and free deed of giving blood. Giving a little of your time to keep the blood reserve at an optimal level is a real commitment towards those in need. Even during summer vacation, recipients need blood to recover their health.

Running the campaign until September 10, Héma-Québec with its local partners will be holding several blood drives, notably at shopping malls and some 20 camp sites, to reach vacationers. Donors are also invited to give blood in the air-conditioned GLOBULE Blood Donor Centres located at Place Versailles and at 4045 Côte-Vertu Boulevard in Montréal, as well as at Place Laurier in Québec City.

Anyone in good health who is aged 18 and over and meets the Héma-Québec eligibility criteria can give blood. There is no longer an upper age limit in Québec. You can give blood every 56 days, i.e., six times year. For more information about blood donation, you can call 1-800-343-7264 or go to the Héma-Québec website at www.hema-quebec.qc.ca.

A single blood donation can help save up to four lives. Every blood donation collected by Héma-Québec is systematically analyzed and submitted to high-precision screening tests for diseases that can be spread through blood transfusion, notably the West Nile virus. It is important to know that there is no risk of contamination when giving blood; the equipment used to collect blood is sterile and single-use only.

Created in 1998, Héma-Québec is the organization responsible for the efficient procurement of adequate quantities of optimal blood components, substitutes, human tissues and stem cells to meet the needs of all Quebecers. Héma-Québec is 1,300 employees, some 2,000 blood drives and more than 300,000 blood donors every year, 16,000 partner volunteers and 400,000 blood products delivered to hospitals in Québec annually to fulfill the need of 80,000 patients.

This summer, go short-sleeved.
Give blood. Give life.

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