Dr. Sherif Fahkry Mohamed Abd-el-Naby, President of the Egyptian Russian University (ERU), announced that, within the framework of the university’s commitment to its role and community responsibilities, embodying the values ​​of goodness and humanitarian responsibility, reinforcing the spirit of solidarity among the students, and infusing in them the importance of voluntary work, a blood donation campaign was organized for the sixteenth time successively on campus under the slogan “I am an Egyptian Donor… I am a Permanent Donor.”

    The campaign was accomplished in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Population, as represented by the National Blood Transfusion Services in Zagazig. Dr. Sherif also stated that ERU students, who are members in the Egyptian Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (EPSF), supervised the implementation of this campaign. It also came with the support of Dr. Mohamed Kamal Al-Sayed Mustafa, Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Sherif emphasized that all necessary precautionary measures and procedures were carried out in order to protect and preserve the health of students and staff members who donated blood.

     In the same context, Dr. Mohamed Ehab Fattouh, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, asserted that this campaign is a noble humanitarian act which contributes to saving the lives of thousands of patients who are in dire need of blood transfusions at government and university hospitals. He noted that the blood donation campaign goals include raising awareness on the importance of blood donation among all university students. This is in order to spread such culture and also to fix in them this humanitarian goal that is based on giving to meet the patients’ needs.

     On her part, Dr. Hanaa Abd-el-Rahman, Advisor to the President of the Russian Egyptian University for Student Activities, pinpointed that this 3-day campaign comes within the framework of serving the community and developing the environment surrounding the university. She highlighted that the campaign’s goals include raising awareness on blood donation requirements and the tasks of blood banks. Such awareness-raising constitutes an important part of the university’s humanitarian responsibility and mission, which helps enhancing the students’ participation, their sense of belonging to the community, in addition to raising their awareness on their role in supporting the patients’ needs.

     In a related vein, Dr. Abdullah Mohamed, Supervisor of the Scientific Society at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the ERU, stated that, during the blood donation campaign, a large number of students and staff members from different faculties at the university flocked to donate their blood for saving the patients’ lives. He made it clear that the campaign management first conducts a medical examination on the donating students to assess their health conditions, conducting the necessary medical analyses for them and then provides the university management with the results to get reassured about the students’ health. He added that the donors’ data is collected and that they are continually contacted to remind them of the need to donate regularly every four months in order to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency with blood bags for saving many lives.