Society
Cultural activities celebrate Việt Nam Heritage Day
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| Students and volunteers donate blood at the Red Sunday festival 2016 in Hà Nội. The country may face a severe blood shortage over the Tết (Lunar New Year) holidays. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — A series of more than 40 blood donation festivals, called "Ngày Chủ Nhật đỏ” (Red Sunday), will take place in 25 provinces and cities nationwide this Sunday.
Launched by the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper in 2009, the festival aims to ease the serious blood shortage in hospitals resulting from the increase in traffic accidents and the declining number of blood donors ahead of Tết.
Tiền Phong newspaper editor-in-chief Lê Xuân Sơn said the event has set a target to collect at least 25,000 units of blood, an increase of 2,500 units compared with last year’s event, in an effort to meet the increasing demand for blood for emergency aid and treatment in hospitals during the upcoming Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.
“The Red Sunday festival has received huge support from the youth, students and many levels of society over the past years. Blood collection from Red Sunday festivals had increased to 22,500 units last year, compared with 1,000 units in 2009,” Sơn said.
National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions (NIHBT) director Nguyễn Anh Trí said the country is facing a severe blood shortage due to a decline in the number of donors. In addition, fewer blood donation drives are conducted during Tết.
“The health sector needs some 125,000 blood units for emergency and treatment demand during the Tết period. Red Sunday is an important blood donation event, providing a precious gift to patients during the Tết festival,” Trí said.
According to the Ministry of Health’s statistics, the country received more than 1.4 million blood units in 2016, equivalent to 1.5 per cent of the country’s population that donates blood. The collected blood has met more than 60 per cent of the country’s emergency, treatment and preventive demands.
The health sector has set a goal to collect at least 1.7 million blood units in 2017. — VNS
