New Guinness World Record title, “Most Registered Blood Donation” with over 70,000 Blood Donors in 24 hours in South Korea

LONDON, October 21st 2022 – Korean volunteers made a Guinness World Record for the challenge of “Most people to sign up as blood donors online in 24 hours”. On 1st of October the youth volunteer group “WE ARE ONE” completed 71,121 online blood donation applications in 24 hours to break the World Record.

This record of over 70,000 blood donors was prepared to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation to overcome the blood shortage caused by COVID-19. The challenge was led by WE ARE ONE, a Korean youth organisation conducting the “Life ON Youth ON” blood donation campaign.

According to the Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability published by the WHO in June 2022, shortages of blood have impacted all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2022, the American Red Cross also announced that US is facing a national blood crisis – its worst blood shortage in over a decade.

Through ‘Red Connect’, the official blood donation smartphone application of the Korean Red Cross, all WE ARE ONE volunteers completed the donation application in 24 hours, from 8:00 am on October 1st to 8:00 am on October 2nd. This is about seven times the previous world record of 10,217 (in 8 hours) held by India.

Mr. Junsu Hong, the head of WE ARE ONE, said, “It was possible not only because of the volunteers, but also the Korean Red Cross officials working at the forefront to solve the blood shortage, and the IT company that developed an efficient blood donation application system. In that sense it has great significance. I believe COVID-19 can be defeated when we are all one”.

WE ARE ONE launched on July 30 of this year, and has been conducting the ‘70,000 blood donation’ campaign since August 27. As of the October 11 2022, a total of 43,811 people completed the blood donation. WE ARE ONE plans to complete the blood donation of 70,000 people by November 2022.

The official record is accessible in the Guinness World Records website: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/714849-most-people-to-sign-up-as-blood-donors-online-in-24-hours

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