Officials were the first to donate blood today, in Stefan cel Mare Square, on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day. Prime Minister Vlad Filat urged all those who could help to do it. It is a gesture that should be of real help to those who need it. “We must do it more often”, he said. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca labeled the action as “gifting life” and said that more people who weren’t indifferent should donate blood. “Our opponents haven’t sucked all our blood yet, so there’s left to donate”, joked the Mayor. Minister of Health Andrei Usatai agreed that donating blood meant “donating life”. He informed that over the last 10 years, the number of donors increased tenfold. In the meantime, the blood transfusion institution modernized in order to make transfusions safer. Andrei Usatai announced that an agreement with the Council of Europe Development Bank would be signed for a €500,000 grant that would be allotted to the National Blood Transfusion Center for transfusion equipment. Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta showed up accompanied by several cadets from the Military Academy “Alexandru cel Bun”. “This isn’t the first or the last time I donate blood. I do it every 6 months, regularly. The boys from the Military Academy came voluntarily and I think that the civic participation of each of us is one of the conditions for our society to progress. It’s a noble action that must be supported not only by officials, but by everyone”, said Vitalie Marinuta. About 80,000 blood donations take place in Moldova yearly and cover the needs for 150,000 patients. Only 25,000 of them are voluntary donations.