Dr. Bạch Quốc Khánh, director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions, speaks at a press conference on January 10 in Hà Nội. — Photo Tiền Phong Newspaper

HÀ NỘI — Organisers expect to collect 45,000 - 50,000 blood units in the Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022 (Red Sunday), a blood donation campaign that will officially open at the People’s Police Academy in Hà Nội on January 16.

The annual event will be organised by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, the National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety, and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions (NIHBT), in more than 40 provinces and cities across the country.

It aims to handle the shortage of blood for emergency and treatment periods during and after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.  

Lê Xuân Sơn, editor-in-Chief of Tiền Phong newspaper, head of the Organising Committee, said that 2022 would be much more difficult due to the pandemic situation, but Tiền Phong newspaper and its companions would do their best for the sake of patient life, as with the past 13 Red Sunday campaigns.

“We will have to change the way of organisation, and be faster and more flexible, instead of organising large, crowded voluntary blood donation events. We will also organise more blood donation points on a smaller scale in efforts to reach the target of collecting 45,000 - 50,000 blood units,” said Sơn.

Dr. Bạch Quốc Khánh, director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said NIBHT usually received 30,000 units of blood every month to supply to hospitals in the north. However, the hospital had recently received only 25,000 to 28,000 units of blood in the period near the Lunar New Year.

"The closer Tết comes, the more the health sector and patients worry about blood shortages. The NIHBT needs at least 50,000 blood units in the first two months of the year 2022," he said.

However, with the blood donation schedules already in place, we are still short of 15,000 units of blood and 2,000 platelet units. Just one more unit of blood, or one more unit of platelet while Tết is approaching is a valuable lifesaver for the patient."

In 2021, due to the pandemic, many blood donation events were cancelled, and the 2021 Red Sunday festival mobilised more than 61,000 blood units in 43 provinces and cities, compared to 96 blood units collected at the first Red Sunday in 2009.