HÀ NỘI — More than 23,400 units of blood have been collected at 30 Chủ Nhật Đỏ (Red Sunday) blood donation camps in 19 provinces and cities after a month.

The collected amount was making up 67 per cent of the campaign’s target, said Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper editor-in-chief Lê Xuân Sơn.

Sơn said that the event would be organised in 31 provinces and cities across the country and organisers expected to collect at least 35,000 units of blood from donors, an increase of 3,000 units compared to the previous year.

The event, which commenced on December 15, 2017, will conclude on January 31 this year. The campaign is an effort to ease the blood supply shortage in hospitals throughout the country during the Lunar New Year (Tết) holidays. 

The 10th Red Sunday’s main event will take place at Hà Nội University of Science and Technology this Sunday.

The annual event is jointly organised by Tiền Phong newspaper, National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety and National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions (NIHBT).

NIHBT director Prof Bạch Quốc Khánh said modern medical techniques and treatment methods required an increasing demand for blood. Which is why the demand for blood was increasing year by year in many countries, including Việt Nam.

Khánh said blood shortage usually occurred during Tết and summer holidays when donors, mainly students and volunteers, were either busy with exams or went for vacations.  

“The Red Sunday event has played an important role in meeting with a blood shortage contingency during Tết holidays. On behalf of the patients, I would like to express my sincerely thanks to all donors who donate blood for the sake of community,” said Prof Khánh.

Launched by the newspaper in 2009, the annual campaign aims to ease the blood supply shortage in hospitals, resulting from increasing traffic accidents and declining number of blood donors prior to Tết. The event has helped collect more than 70,000 units of blood in the past nine years.

NIHBT alone needs 60,000 units of blood, including 30,000 units of blood group O, to meet the demand for emergency aid and treatment in hospitals in the north from January to mid-March. It is predicted that the health sector needs some 320,000 units of blood for treatment and reservation during Tết. — VNS