RSU Employees and Students Donate Blood and Check Health at Well-Attended RSU Health Day

On Wednesday, 30 November, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) hosted its traditional Health Day for the first time since the pandemic. The State Blood Donor Centre visited the event and 54 students and employees donated blood, 21 of whom were first-time donors.

A total of 24.3 litres of blood was donated – this amount can save 162 people, as one donation can save the lives of three people. Alongside the blood donation, nearly 40 future specialists from ten student scientific interest groups, as well as the RSU Red Cross Medical College, offered basic health checks in the RSU lobby.

RSU Health Day was held for the ninth time and was well received by employees, and local and international students. Student-led academic societies always actively participate in the event, and this year they were represented in particularly large numbers.

Students from academic associations specialising in Infectology, Nutrition, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Psychiatry, Anaesthesiology and Reanimatology, Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology, Rheumatology, Cardiology, and Oncology, as well as the RSU Red Cross Medical College offered various health check-ups. RSU employees and students had the opportunity to measure their blood pressure, determine blood sugar and cholesterol levels, determine their body mass index, sleepiness, and stress levels, screen for depression and anxiety, check colour vision, taste a fruit smoothie for eye health, and learn about cervical cancer screenings. The Nutrition group was particularly popular. Here people could determine the percentage of muscle, fat, water, and bone in their bodies by using the bioimpedance method.

21 people who donated blood were first-time donors. The representatives of the State Blood Donor Centre were pleased with this number, as this ensures continuity of the donor movement. Nancy Baydoun and Izabella Malki, RSU medical students from Sweden who donated blood for the first time, emphasised that they were happy to have the opportunity to do so at the University.

‘I appreciated the opportunity to have my health checked and get blood tests when donating blood. And it was not painful at all!’ says Izabella Malki.

Kirils Jeršovs, a 6th year student at the Faculty of Medicine, also became a first-time donor: ‘I believe that there is no debate – one should donate blood if it is possible. As a future physician, I understand that blood is crucial for patients with polytrauma, low haemoglobin, or oncology patients.’

Many RSU employees and students regularly donate blood not only on RSU Health Day, but also at blood drives organised by the State Blood Donor Centre. Inga Bēniņa, Office Manager at the Department of Legal Sciences, has been a blood donor for more than 20 years and donated blood on this occasion as well.

‘My blood type is O Rh-, which is in great demand. My blood is useful and I can help – that is the main reason I donate.’

Donating blood not only saves many critically ill patients, but also brings emotional satisfaction and improved health to the donors themselves – their blood formation system is activated, their immunity improves, and they suffer less from acute and chronic illnesses. According to the World Health Organisation, regular blood donors live on average five years longer. 

RSU Health Day is usually held twice a year – in April and November. This tradition started in 2016 and aims to encourage employees to take care of their health and get involved in the donor movement.

We wish to sincerely thank the RSU Student Council and the RSU Health Centre for their support in organising RSU Health Day!