On October 22nd, the Health Day annual event was held at South Ural State University. The university students were able to become blood donors, undergo rapid testing for HIV/AIDS, and also take part in master classes from medical volunteers.
The event was organized by the SUSU Extracurricular Activities Office. It is worth noting that Health Day is held annually and collects a large number of positive responses from students who help patients of many hospitals.
On this day, SUSU partners, the Union of Mechanical Engineers of Russia, came to support the students.
"We actively participate in such events, especially when they are held at enterprises and universities that are members of the Union. Now we have a special need for donor blood, so it is important to hold such events so that people feel their involvement in the social component of the society's life," said the Head of the Chelyabinsk Regional Office of the Union of Mechanical Engineers of Russia Sergey Kashigin.
The donor centre was organized in the hall of the second floor of the SUSU academic building No. 2. Here, anyone could undergo a preliminary medical examination and donate blood. First of all, the students' weight, haemoglobin level, blood pressure, and blood type were checked.
"The need for blood is quite high, we provide the entire region with donor blood, large volumes are required, and therefore we organize mobile donations. They take place in almost all universities and technical schools in our region, at large factories. In addition, we actively invite everyone, who is unable to donate blood on weekdays, to come to us on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month," noted transfusion doctor of the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution "Chelyabinsk Regional Blood Transfusion Station" Aleksandr Kovalchuk.
There was a mobile station near the main academic building of SUSU, where everyone interested could take an express HIV test. In addition, representatives of the AIDS Centre held a quiz for students, and medical volunteers offered master classes on first aid. Today, 52 people have donated blood (that is, about 20 litres) and 43 students took the express HIV test.
"My friends and I found out that our university would hold such an event, and we decided to take part in it in order to help people. I donated blood for the first time, it turned out to be not scary at all and not painful," shared third-year student of the SUSU Advanced Engineering School Aleksandr Dubrovin.
It should be noted that such events are held at the university annually with the aim of informing students about the prevention of the spread of various diseases and forming a responsible attitude towards their health.