Students donate blood at the 17th Chủ nhật đỏ (Red Sunday) blood donation festival in Hà Nội on Sunday. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Thousands of students and young people gathered at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology to participate in the launch of the 17th Chủ nhật đỏ (Red Sunday) blood donation festival in Hà Nội on Sunday.

The annual event with the theme: 'Donating blood saves lives - Your life and mine' was organised by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, in collaboration with the National Traffic Safety Committee, National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Campaign and the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union.

Phùng Công Sưởng, Editor-in-Chief of the Tiền Phong newspaper and head of the organising committee of the 17th Red Sunday, at the launch. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

Speaking at the ceremony, Phùng Công Sưởng, Editor-in-Chief of the Tiền Phong newspaper and head of the organising committee, emphasised Red Sunday’s remarkable contribution to spreading the message 'Donate blood to save lives - Your life and mine', attracting the participation and support of millions of volunteer hearts, contributing hundreds of thousands of blood units for the health sector over the past 16 years.

“In the 17th year, Red Sunday wishes to promote greater awareness of the meaning of donating blood to save lives. Donating blood is not only an act of giving life but also a concrete expression of compassion, love and responsibility to the community,” said Sưởng.

Professor Trần Văn Thuấn, Deputy Minister of Health and deputy head of the National Steering Committee for voluntary blood donation, speaks at the event. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

Professor Trần Văn Thuấn, Deputy Minister of Health and deputy head of the National Steering Committee for voluntary blood donation, said that the Red Sunday programme has been supported by large numbers of people from all walks of life throughout the country.

Blood collected from the Red Sunday programme has increased from only 96 units in the first year the programme was held in Hà Nội in 2009, to over 400,000 blood units in 2024.

"This is a truly impressive number, a symbol of love and kindness, contributing to the proud tradition of solidarity and solidarity of the Vietnamese people," said Thuấn.

However, Thuấn added that the nation still has a shortage of blood at certain times, while the need for blood transfusions is increasing due to growing demands for medical care. Therefore, ensuring enough blood for emergency and treatment needs is always a huge pressure for the medical industry.

The National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Campaign and the Ministry of Health called on organisations and people in the community to actively participate in blood donation campaigns and directly donate blood to build a healthier and more humane society.

Youngsters attend the the 17th Chủ nhật đỏ (Red Sunday) blood donation festival in Hà Nội on Sunday. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

Initiated by Tiền Phong Newspaper in 2009, the Red Sunday programme has now spread to 55 provinces and cities across the country. Each year, it receives an average of about 55,000 units of blood.

Over the past 30 years, the voluntary blood donation movement in Việt Nam has achieved encouraging results, contributing to protecting, caring for and improving people's health. In 1994, the first year of launching the blood donation movement, the whole country received 138,000 blood units, the voluntary blood donation rate was only 14.5 per cent. After that, the amount of blood received increased steadily over the years, and since 2014, each year, the health sector has received over one million units of blood.

In 2024 it is expected that the whole country will receive over 1.6 million units of blood, more than 11.6 times higher than in 1994, with most of the blood received from volunteer blood donors, according to the Ministry of Health. — VNS