Local residents in HCM City donate blood. Photo tphcm.chinhphu.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City has taken the lead in the voluntary blood donation movement for many years, accounting for one-fifth of the donated blood nationwide, President of the city’s Red Cross Society Trần Trường Sơn said on Friday.

Addressing the launch of the All People’s Voluntarily Blood Donation Day, he noted that from December 1994 to December 31, 2022, the city recorded more than 2.8 million voluntary blood donations, collecting over 3 million blood units to ensure a sufficient supply for emergency aid and treatment at 150 local hospitals and in some southern provinces.

He said that the donation mobilisation and reception were maintained even amid the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, guaranteeing blood supply for medical establishments.

Since 2021, digital transformation has been conducted in donation mobilisation with the launch of the “Giot mau vang” (Golden Blood) app.

More than 35,000 people have used this app, via which nearly 60,000 donation registrations have been made, including nearly 40 per cent registering to donate again. The app has helped donors select suitable donation locations and times while assisting the city’s blood bank in donation management, according to Sơn.

For 2023, the southern metropolis looks to raise 220,000 bags of donated blood, more than 80 per cent of which are 350-450ml bags and over 95 per cent is safe blood, to meet the emergency aid and treatment demand.

He added that it will also propose establishing fixed blood donation sites to create more favourable conditions for donors and disseminate knowledge about blood donation. — VNS