Hồ Đăng Phong, a bank employee in the Central Highlands of Đắk Lắk Province, makes a health declaration before donating his blood at Đắk Lắk Medical College on Sunday. — Photo tienphong.vn

ĐẮK LẮK — Hồ Đăng Phong, a bank employee in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk, once again waited to donate blood at Đắk Lắk Medical College on Sunday.

Phong said although he is very afraid of needles, he has donated blood more than ten times.

The first time Phong donated blood was when he was a student at the Banking University HCMC in HCM City, he said.

“At that time, I weighed only 49kg, after donating blood, I decided to do exercise to gain weight so that I could donate my blood once or twice a year,” he said.

Hundreds of civil servants in Đắk Lắk Province donated blood as part of the programme 'Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022' (2022 Red Sunday) – a blood donation campaign held at the college on Sunday.

The programme was organised by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper in collaboration with the National Traffic Safety Committee, the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Đắk Lắk Province’s Blood Donation Campaign Committee and other agencies.

The programme, which is scheduled to take place between January 8 and 19 in the province, is expected to gather 2,500-3,000 units of blood.

Đặng Đình Thành, a lecturer at the medical college, who has donated blood more than 10 times so far, said he decided to donate because he teaches his students about medical issues every day, so he understands the meaning of a drop of blood for people in need.

Vũ Hoàng Lâm, a worker at the Power Company of Đắk Lắk, said: “I think blood donation is a humanitarian act.”

Lâm decided that blood donation will become one of his habits.

Lâm also encouraged his wife and other relatives to donate blood frequently.

Trần Thị Cẩm Nhung, an employee at Đắk Lắk Province Television, said she has donated blood over 20 times.

Nhung said the first time she donated blood was when she was 18. She decided to donate blood after she saw her father receive emergency blood from donors many times.

She donates blood twice to four times a year.

“My husband once received blood from a donor after he was in a traffic accident,” she said.

Since then, he also donated blood with the hope of saving others.

Lê Anh Tuấn, Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of agencies and businesses in the province, said that this is the first time the agency has jointly organised the programme.

In previous years, volunteers at the agency enthusiastically participated the programme to donate blood for people who need it, he said.

Nguyễn Đức Phú, Chief of the Office of the Đắk Lắk Province’s Blood Donation Campaign Committee, said that the committee had to cancel many events due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, including events in districts of Krông Búk, Cư M’gar and Ea Kar.

Therefore, the committee planned to select the districts to be destinations for the 2022 Red Sunday, he said.

Phú said despite the pandemic, the committee still organises the events to have reserve blood for emergencies and treatment during the Tết (Lunar New Year).

"We will send some of the blood units we collected from the programme to the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion," he added.

Journalist Đình Thắng, head of the Representative Office of the Tiền Phong Newspaper in the Central Highlands, who was in charge of the programme in the province, said that the 2022 Red Sunday was organised amid the complex developments of the pandemic.

Therefore, the organisers required all participants to be screened and adhere to 5K message of the Health Ministry - Khẩu trang (facemask) – Khử khuẩn (disinfection) – Khoảng cách (distance) – Không tụ tập (no gathering) – Khai báo y tế (health declaration), he said.

The Red Sunday programme is a blood donation programme, initiated by Tiền Phong newspaper in early 2009 in Hà Nội. The programme is co-organised by the National Traffic Safety Committee and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion annually ahead of the Lunar New Year. — VNS