In the UK, postal mail scams cost individuals a total of £3.5 billion each year, according to government figures. The elderly are often most severely affected, typically losing £1,200 each, twice as much as younger age groups.
8,000 units of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand in the UK. Blood comes in four main types – O, A, B and AB. Group O is the most common which means it is in high demand. Blood can also be subdivided into its main components – red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma. Unfortunately red cells only have a shelf-life of 35 days, while platelets shelf life is even less, only five days.
More than 10,000 people in the UK currently need a transplant. Of these, 1000 each year – that’s three a day – will die waiting as there are not enough organs available.
75,000 children will wake up homeless on Christmas Day in the UK. You can help homeless charity Shelter by donating your money or your time.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under the age of 35. In the UK, 2,900 women a year are diagnosed with cervical cancer.
2 women in the UK are killed every week by a partner or ex-partner, making domestic abuse the largest cause of death worldwide in women aged 19-44 – greater than war, cancer or motor vehicle accidents.
About 50,000 people in the UK require some form of ongoing treatment for kidney failure, of which about 7,000 are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. The average wait for a kidney transplant in the UK is 1,000 days.
Between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012, 1107 lives were saved in the UK through a heart, lung, liver or combined heart/lungs, liver/kidney or liver/pancreas transplant.
A quarter of smoke alarms in the UK don’t work because they’ve had their battery taken out. Working smoke alarms save lives.
In the UK each year there are around 50,000 (140 a day) house fires, which kill nearly 500 and injure over 11,000 – many which could have been prevented if people had an early warning and were able to get out in time.