Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other organizations join forces in Santiago, Chile to create dynamic global youth movement with focus on voluntary blood donation and healthy lifestyles.

In March 2006, 223 people from 66 different countries and 46 National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent attended the 10th International Colloquium on the recruitment of voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors in Santiago (Chile). Participants discussed ways of building quality into donor recruitment and engaging young people in blood donor recruitment strategies. They presented communication and education tools used to scale up the impact of voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation around the world, particularly in Latin America.

This colloquium, hosted by Chilean Red Cross and promoted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), also conducted two workshops to explore possibilities for the creation of so-called Club 25 Programmes in Latin America and the establishment of international networks between young people involved in various Club 25 programmes across the world.

According to the lead facilitators of the workshops, Diane de Coning and Sylvie Daigneault, the outcome of these two workshops could have significant impact on future generations and the way young people remain eligible as regular blood donors.

Club 25 is designed for young people not only to give blood to save life, but also to attend a blood centres, learn about healthy lifestyles and share what they have learned with their community. These young blood donors can also remain active in health promotion activities by fighting against HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and other health risk behaviours, as well as promoting, for example, first aid, good nutrition, physical exercise and road safety. At this colloquium the message from participants was clearly one of total admiration for the young people who presented these new and exciting models of public health care.

After presentations on Club 25 Programmes from Malawi, South Africa, Botswana and the Philippines there was overwhelming support for the establishment of an international network to link leaders of the various Clubs around the world and to enable members of the Clubs share their experiences with other countries wishing to set up these economical models of health care.

We believe that through existing Club 25 Programmes and pilot programmes following suit across the world there is now a strong basis not only for the start of a new generation of voluntary blood donors, but also role models in the wider area of health promotion", explained Diane and Sylvie.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, working in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), has supported this initiative and has positioned itself to take a leading role as an information provider to voluntary blood donors.

"Younger people are searching for tangible expressions of hope. The gift of blood provides such an expression, the work of educating and motivating donors is a powerful tool for solidarity and community development at all levels," says Bruce Eshaya-Chauvin, Head of the Health and Care Department at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

As health and care in the community has been a core area for the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies and due to its potential impact in other parts of the world, Club 25 was selected as one of the key topics for the international colloquium: and now arising from the workshops it is likely that Club 25 Programmes will be implemented soon in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Belize, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay Jamaica, Haiti and Guyana.

With enthusiasm for the introduction of Club 25 Programmes spreading rapidly after this successful colloquium we now present some examples of existing Club 25 Programmes, and invite your participation to this new network of international Club 25 members around the world.