Turkish Red Crescent President Fatma Meriç Yılmaz, in her speech at the opening of the workshop held at the hotel in Ankara, said that they aimed for young people to take a more active role in blood donation efforts with the program in which 62 Young Red Crescent Blood Ambassadors from 44 provinces participated.
Expressing that they want to start an era in which young people lead young people, Yılmaz stated that with the "There is Life in the Blood of Youth" Project, which was implemented last year, young people both donated blood and encouraged their friends to donate.
Yılmaz said, "We collected 2 million 260 thousand units of blood donations in the first 9 months of 2026. The age group that donated the most was 20, followed by the 19 and 21 age groups. This is a result of the Blood Ambassadors Project, which was launched last year by the Young Red Crescent with the slogan 'There is Life in the Blood of Youth'." he said.
Pointing out that at this stage, it can be determined which blood group is in excess and which is deficient, Yılmaz continued his words as follows:
"Last year, for the first time, we exceeded 3 million units of blood donation in a year. I know that our professors will congratulate us for this success at the scientific committee meeting to be held today, because our professors in this scientific committee established our blood system. While we previously aimed not to fall below 60 thousand units of stock, today we are in a position to meet all kinds of blood needs with our stock of over 120 thousand units. The journey of safe blood supply, which started 20 years ago, has evolved into a period in which 98 percent of the blood needs of the whole country are met today. "As soon as the duties of the temporary regional blood centers are completed, 100 percent of them will be covered safely by the National Blood Supply Project."
"Blood bag and plasma fractionation factories are planned to be opened in 2027"
Emphasizing that once the duties of the regional blood centers are completed, all of the country's blood needs will be met safely within the scope of the National Blood Supply Project, Yılmaz said that in addition to blood donation, significant progress has been made in stem cell studies, that stem cell donation is of vital importance, especially for children and their families struggling with diseases such as leukemia, and that the value of these studies cannot be measured by numbers.
Explaining that the Turkish Red Crescent is working on developing new treatment methods from blood products, Yılmaz stated that blood bag and plasma fractionation factories are planned to be opened in 2027.
Yılmaz, who informed that the Red Crescent-TÜBİTAK R&D subsidiary was established and the first board meeting was held, stated that they are working on different treatment agents that can be obtained from blood in the field of biotherapy.
Underlining that the voluntary donations of blood donors contribute to the treatment of many patients, especially cancer, hemophilia, immunodeficiency and intensive care patients, Yılmaz said that the Blood Ambassadors Program played an important role in gaining these donors.
Yılmaz said, "Young people, as long as you are with us and intend to carry the flag we carry further, both the Red Crescent, our nation and our state will last forever." he said.
"Today, with our new 65 blood ambassadors, we will increase our total number of blood ambassadors to 180."
Young Red Crescent President Utku İlhan also stated that there is a constant need for blood donation and that healthy individuals should make blood donation a habit that they can continue throughout their lives.
Expressing that the Blood Ambassadors Project is a peer-based awareness and consciousness-raising study, İlhan said that the young people who participated in the workshop returned to their cities after the training they received and carried out information activities for their peers, encouraged young people over the age of 18 to donate blood, gave information to those who had reservations about donating, and supported those in need by accompanying them to blood donation centers.
Explaining that blood ambassadors carry out awareness activities in different environments, from university lecture halls to mosques, from schools to picnic areas, İlhan said, "Today, with our new blood ambassadors here, we will increase the total number of blood ambassadors to 180. As Young Red Crescent, we are a youth organization operating in 81 provinces, 235 districts, currently in 150 universities with 250 thousand volunteers." he said.
İlhan emphasized that they aim to direct more young people to donate blood and facilitate more donations by the third workshop to be held next year.
Within the scope of the program, awards were presented to blood ambassadors who stood out with their successful work in various categories.
In this context, Erzincan Blood Ambassador Muhammed Baki İşmarcı was awarded in the "Blood Ambassador of the Year" category, Abant İzzet Baysal University Blood Ambassador Abdülcemit Şirzat in the "Loyalty Blood Ambassador" category, Aksaray University Blood Ambassador Elif Nur Peksoy in the "Selfless Blood Ambassador" category, and Denizli Blood Ambassador Hediyenur Sarıyar in the "Teaching Blood Ambassador" category.
