National Media Council (NMC) organised here today in association with Abu Dhabi Blood Bank the blood donation initiative to observe the International Thalassemia Day, which corresponds with May 8th every year. Alia' Hassan Al Yasi, Deputy Director of the Department of Governmental Communication at NMC stressed that the initiative comes within a series of societal and national initiatives sponsored by NMC in response to the National Solidarity and Societal Initiative launched by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. NMC earlier called on other institutions to donate blood and make the initiative a success. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, The Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Community Development, The National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) along with the NMC clients took part in the event. Thalassemia is a group of inherited autosomal recessive blood disorders that originated in the Mediterranean region. In thalassemia the genetic defect, which could be either mutation or deletion, results in reduced rate of synthesis or no synthesis of one of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin. This can cause the formation of abnormal hemoglobin molecules, thus causing anemia, the characteristic presenting symptom of the thalassemias.