Most blood donations internationally in one calendar day

On 27th of August 2022, thousands of people across 27 countries came together to donate blood on a single day through Who is Hussain’s #GlobalBloodHeroes campaign. Volunteers in New Zealand kicked off the blood drive as the day began and the final donations came in from the West Coast of the United States of America. 

We are delighted to confirm that Who is Hussain, a British based charity, has broken the world record for the single largest number of blood donations recorded on a calendar day. The total number of blood donations was 37,018, collected across 27 countries in 6 continents. With up to 3 lives saved per donation, over 110,000 lives could be saved by the campaign’s efforts.

We congratulate Who is Hussain on their world record achievement. Setting the new world record for most number of blood donations is highly commendable, and it is great that it was for such a noble cause.

Who is Hussain’s record-breaking initiative builds on over 10 years of grassroots, volunteer-led campaigning and organisers have now set their sights on ever more ambitious efforts to help save lives and build compassionate communities around the world, inspired by Hussain.

Muntazir Rai, Director of Who is Hussain, said: “Who is Hussain was founded just over a decade ago, inspired by the compassionate legacy of Hussain ibn Ali. It’s incredible to think that the selfless altruism of this man, who lived over a thousand years ago, has inspired over 37,000 people to participate in the biggest blood drive in history. 

“The pandemic hit blood reserves across the world hard. With hospitals struggling to meet demands, Who is Hussain volunteers rallied together and launched our Global Blood Heroes campaign. Donating blood is a universal act of compassion that can unite people all around the world – we all bleed the same. We’re so excited that so many first-time donors came forward and many have committed to donating again, and will continue to, hopefully, for years to come.”

The Global Blood Heroes campaign saw large numbers of first-time donors take part; with 50% of donations in Canada and 25% in the UK coming from those giving blood for the very first time. Through widening access and combating myths and stereotypes, the campaign was particularly successful in encouraging Black, Asian and ethnic minority background donors to come forward, many also for the first time.