"golden hour of first aid." Also blood is very much necessary during major surgeries (such as, open heart surgery and renal surgery), to replenish blood loss during pregnancy and its complications, for patients with hematological diseases such as severe anemia, leukemia, hemophilia, and thalassemia and other emergencies such as poisoning and burns. Safe blood is a critical component in improving health care and in preventing the spread of infectious diseases globally. Millions of lives are saved each year through blood transfusions, yet the quality and safety of blood transfusion are still a concern particularly in the developing countries. About 5%-10% of new HIV infections worldwide are transmitted through unsafe blood transfusions. The reason for this includes blood collection from unsafe donors, poor laboratory procedures, and inadequate testing of blood. Blood will be safe if there is a nationally coordinated blood transfusion Background: College students form a large, healthy, and active population of potential blood donors; their recruitment and retention would immensely help meet the demand of safe blood. The knowledge and practice of blood donation among medical and nursing students are reportedly diverse. Objective: To compare the reasons for blood donation and knowledge and attitude about blood donation among medical and nursing students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 students (300 medical and 100 nursing students) using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire to solicit information from medical and nursing students over a period of 3 months. Results: All the 400 students were aware of blood donation but 71.5% (286) had never donated blood. Blood donation rate was slightly increased from first-year to third-year MBBS students, only 12% of nursing students donated blood. Forty-one percent donated blood as a charity and 34.2% had donated as a replacement donors. The most common reason for not donating blood was that it was not asked among 24% students and because of underweight among 17% students. Conclusion: Significant difference exist in the knowledge and practice of blood donation among medical and nursing students which needs to be addressed by creating awareness at the initial stage of higher education by conducting periodic awareness programs.