This summer, go short-sleeved!

Montréal, July 10, 2007 – Launched on June 18, the Héma-Québec’s summer campaign « This summer, go short-sleeved. Give blood. Give life » goes on. 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 make this heroic and free deed of giving blood. At this time of the year, when leaving aside daily chores is so replenishing, donors are invited to blood drive locations to rest comfortably on “reclining chairs.” Since patients rely on us all year long, keeping the collective blood supply at an optimal level depends on the generosity of all Quebecers… even during summer vacation.

Running the campaign until September 9, Héma-Québec with its local partners will be holding several blood drives throughout Québec. 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. To find out the dates of upcoming blood drives, please call 1-800-343-7264 or consult the Héma-Québec’s web site at www.hema-quebec.qc.ca.

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 per year.

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.

About Héma-Québec
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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