My Blood for Others in France

20 Rotary Clubs, two Rotaract Clubs and three Inner Wheel Clubs in the French city of Toulouse took part in the 2009 edition of the national Rotary blood drive, Mon Sang pour les Autres (My Blood for Others), MSPLA. It was in this city of Rotary District 1700 that a blood drive was started by a local Rotary club in 1998 - and since then the program has spread throughout the country and become the most important blood donor campaign in France. (Updated April 23, 2009)

Between January 21 and 24, 2204 people came to give blood, 1674 were accepted, and 530 were refused for various reasons.

- Unfortunately, for the first time this year, we experienced a very exceptional storm on Saturday, which strongly disturbed the blood collection, PDG Jean-Claude Brocart, coordinator of the MSPLA campaign, says. "Without this storm, we would have reached 3000 donors," he adds.

For MSPLA blood drives during 2009, already held or planned, click here and see the Newsletter, Nr. 7, April 2009. Or go to DOWNLOADS.

In 1997, Rotarian Jean-Claude Brocart, member of the Rotary-Club Toulouse-Ovalie, District 1700, envisioned a blood donor campaign in his home town of Toulouse. In January the following year, the first Rotary-organized blood donation drive was launched, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Rotary in Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France. The blood drive was named Mon Sang pour les Autres, MSPLA (My Blood for Others). Jean-Claude Brocart was then the club president of RC Portet-sur-Garonne, located in a town in the suburbof Toulouse.

In France, all Rotary clubs organizing MSPLA campaigns use the name Mon Sang pour les Autresfor their blood drives.  MSPLA cooporates with a national blood organization, Etablissement Francais du Sang (EFS), which is under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.

The campaign Mon Sang pour les Autres has also inspired clubs in overseas French territories and in the last few years spread to Africa.

InGabon, a country in the French speaking West Central Africa, the Rotary Club of Libreville, District 9150, took up the challenge in cooperation with the National Centre for Blood Transfusion (CNTS). On the east side of the African continent, Zanzibar Stone Town Rotary Club, District 9200, Tanzania, has decided to help by recruiting new donors for the Zanzibar Blood Voluntary Donor Association (ZABVODA) and the local blood bank by organizing a blood drive.

Go to the journal PHOTOS to view pictures from the 2009 blood drive in Toulouse.  A 2009 poster can be found under DOWNLOADS.

Contact:  Jean-Claude Brocart, Gouverneur 2004-05, District 1700, Coordinateur national Mon Sang Pour Les Autres, Rotary-Club de Toulouse-Ovalie, phone 06 09 18 36 19, e-mail:jc.brocart@free.fr

Editor's footnotes :Jean-Claude Brocart is a charter member of GNBD and serves on the Board of Directors.

Send your comment to:editor@ourblooddrive.org