The theme of the 2012 World Blood Donor Day campaign, ”Every blood donor is a hero” focuses on the idea that every one of us can become a hero by giving blood. Today, Blood Transfusion Services constitute a crucial part of any healthcare delivery system. Adequate and safe supply of blood and blood components is essential, to enable a wide range of critical care procedures to be carried out in hospitals. The objective of the present study was to identify the level of knowledge of blood donation among voluntary blood donors attending blood bank of Krishna Hospital Karad and to correlate the knowledge with socio-demographic variables. 100 voluntary Blood donors between the ages of 18 and 55 years were selected by Non probability Convenient Sampling technique. Descriptive Survey Design was employed for study. Structured knowledge questionnaire was given to assess their knowledge on Blood Donation. The study sample consisted of 64 males (64%) and 36 females (36%). The overall knowledge on blood donation among respondents was observed as good 10%, average 56%, and poor 34%. In males the overall knowledge level was found good among 9%, average 52% and poor 39%. In females, good knowledge level was observed among 14%, average 49%, and poor 37%. Education and gender was significantly associated with knowledge of blood donation where as education religion blood group and age were not statistically significant. In the present study researcher concluded that there is need for health education regarding blood donation,which will ultimately increases the awareness among general population to motivate for voluntary blood donation.

Keywords: Tobacco; Blood donation; Knowledge.