Some 100 outstanding Vietnamese blood donors were honoured in an event to celebrate World Blood Donor Day yesterday in Hà Nội. — Photo Thu Hiền

HÀ NỘI — Some 100 outstanding Vietnamese blood donors were honoured in an event to celebrate World Blood Donor Day yesterday in Hà Nội.

Speaking at the event, Trương Thị Mai, member of the Politburo, Secretariat and Head of the Mass Mobilisation Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, praised the national blood donation programme and shared his high appreciation for the contribution of the donors in the past 10 years.

“During the past 10 years (2007-2016), the voluntary blood donation movement has achieved impressive achievements, with more than 8.5 million blood units collected. The collected blood volume keeps increasing year by year both in terms of quantity and quality,” said Mai.

Some 465,000 units of blood were donated in 2007, and nearly 1.4 million units were given in 2016, according to Mai.

“This blood has helped boost the treatment of millions of people, particularly those on the edge between life and death,” said the official.

According to Mai, the power and value of voluntary blood donation has been multiplied by the love, kindness and devotion of millions of Vietnamese people.

Voluntary blood donors both young and old, men to women, have brought warmth and vitality to the society and they have helped confirm that ‘No one is left behind on the path to development.’

June 14 became Blood Donor Day in 2004.

With the theme “Give blood. Give now. Give often”, this year’s campaign will focus on blood donation in emergencies. Activities will focus on encouraging people to strengthen the emergency preparedness of health services in their community by donating blood and engaging authorities in the establishment of effective national blood donor programmes.

The national steering committee for voluntary blood donations and the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion have held various activities from June 12 – 14 to credit the blood donors.

A young volunteer donates her blood at a blood donation festival in Hà Nội. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

Workshop discusses human resources for stable blood donation

A workshop was held in Hà Nội yesterday to discuss measures to develop human resources for safe and stable blood donations, bringing together domestic and foreign experts and outstanding blood donors. 

As part of a programme to honour prominent blood donors nationwide and celebrate World Blood Donor Day 2017, the event was held by the National Steering Committee for Mobilising Voluntary Blood Donation and the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT). 
An International Federation of Blood Donor Organisations’ (IFBDO) representative said it is necessary to tailor communication methods to target groups to attract more blood donors. 
A representative of the Thai Red Cross Society’s national blood transfusion centre introduced the Club 25 model, which targets blood donors aged between 17-25. When joining Club 25, participants commit to donate blood 25 times, until 25 years old and call on 25 others to follow suit. 
Ngo Manh Quan from the NIHBT introduced the institute’s initiative to maintain groups of standby people to donate blood to ensure timely provision of safe blood for patients in remote and border areas. 
So far, the project has helped develop live blood banks in 17 remote, isolated and border districts and islands nationwide, with 1,174 members. 
Initiated in 2011 , the model benefits people in Bạch Long Vĩ Island of the northern Hải Phòng City, Phú Quốc Island of the Mekong Delta province of Kiên Giang; Cồn Cỏ Island in central Quảng Trị Province; Si Ma Cai and Đồng Văn districts in the north mountainous provinces of Lào Cai and Hà Giang.— VNS