September 18, Blood diseases day

17. 9. 2021

The humanitarian organization Association of Patients with Blood Diseases Slovenia has been providing diverse support and professional assistance to its members, patients, and patients’ relatives for 26 years in cooperation with healthcare professionals. This strengthens the relationship between patient and doctor, which is crucial for a successful treatment. ThroughoutSeptember 18, 2021, the Blood diseases day, they wish to shed more light on blood diseases and their treatment and strengthen the support for the patients with numerous activities.

On September 18 in Slovenia, we will once again celebrate the Blood diseases day with the support of the Association of Patients with Blood Diseases Slovenia. On this day, where Čopova ulica meets Ljubljana’s Triple Bridge (Tromostovje), there will be educational information stands where visitors will be able to meet and chat with doctors from hematology. In the afternoon, members of the association will meet in the city center and walk “in red”. In the evening hours, some recognizable sites in Slovenia will shine “in red”. Plečnik’s Triple Bridge (Tromostovje) in  Ljubljana, the Solkan bridge, the Capuchin bridge in Škofja Loka, and some other sites, same as numerous other famous sites across the world, will be lighted red.

Blood diseases – how  do we treat them?

Raising awareness will be one of the key activities at the info point on September 18 on Prešernov trg in Ljubljana. It will run under the slogan “Blood diseases – how do we treat them?”. Representatives of the associations and medical staff from the field of hematology will be available from 10 am to 2 pm to all passersby to discuss blood diseases and explain the details of blood tests. Visitors will also be able to receive printed materials and patient guides.

“We invite you to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to have a relaxed chat with experts and patients right in the middle of Ljubljana,” the president of the association Mihaela Uhan addressed anyone who might have questions regarding blood disorders.

Signs and symptoms of  blood diseases and conditions

“Each year in Slovenia we notice an increasing incidence of blood disorders. The symptoms of these disorders are difficult to recognize and appear in all age groups, which is why it is important to discover them early,” patients and doctors warned at the roundtable on the live stream  STAvživo at the beginning of September, the Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

To support a quick discovery of blood diseases, the Association of Patients with Blood Diseases Slovenia in cooperation with an expert editor, specialist hematologist Enver Melkić, MD, from the Department of Hematology at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, released a new guide for patients, titled Symptoms and Signs of Most Common Blood Disorders and Conditions (Simptomi in znaki najpogostejših krvnih  bolezni in stanj).

“I am convinced that by further raising the patients’ awareness of their disease, we will drastically improve the quality of treatment and allow the patients to recognize more quickly and with greater ease the symptoms caused by their disease. I believe that patients who are well aware of their disease will better understand the significance of its treatment and prevention of complications. This is why it is necessary to provide to the patient an explanation during the treatment as well as additional educational content in the form of lectures and quality new guides,” wrote hematologist Melkić in the introduction to the new guide for patients.

Let’s light it red and defeat blood diseases together

In the extent of awareness-raising activities throughout September, different famous sites across the world are lighted red to raise awareness of blood diseases. We continue this trend in Slovenia with the campaign “Let’s light it red and defeat blood diseases together”. This year, in the evening of September 18, we will symbolically light red the Triple Bridge (Tromostovje) in Ljubljana; the largest stone railway bridge in the world, the Solkan bridge; the Capuchin bridge in Škofja Loka; and some other recognizable Slovenian sites.

The activities on Blood Diseases Day will be part of extensive campaigns which take place across the world each September, the Blood Cancer Awareness Month, on the following dates:

  • World CLL Day (September 1)
  • World Leukemia Day (September 4)
  • MPN Awareness Day (September 9)
  • World Lymphoma Awareness Day (September 15)
  • World Patient Safety Day (September 17)
  • World Marrow Donor Day (3rd Saturday of September)
  • International CML Awareness Day (September 22)
  • Global ITP Awareness Week (September 22 – 26)


For more information please contact:
Katarina  Klemenc
Head Communications and Patient Engagement
Phone: +386 1 580 22 43
katarina.klemenc@novartis.com