People register to give blood during the campaign in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — The Red Spring festival, the year's biggest blood donation event, was launched in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

The annual event, organised by Hà Nội Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation in collaboration with the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion and the Hà Nội Youth Association for Blood Donation, aims to ease the blood shortage in the health sector after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday and continuing coronavirus epidemic.

It is expected to attract around 10,000 blood donors and receive more than 5,000 blood units. It will last until February 22.

Seven mobile blood donation venues have been set up in Cầu Giấy, Đống Đa, Hoàn Kiếm, Thanh Xuân, Hà Đông, Hai Bà Trưng and Bắc Từ Liêm districts.

By setting up mobile venues, the organising board aims to avoid crowded locations where people go to donate blood while helping donors select sites more convenient to them.

During the event, the organising board will also hand out 10,000 free face masks, 500 bottles of antiseptic gel and hand sanitiser, along with 10,000 leaflets on preventive measures against the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic for local residents.

Since launching in 2008, the annual Red Spring festival has seen 215,000 blood donors through the previous 12 editions, with 78,620 blood units collected.

On Tuesday morning, in HCM City, the Central Committee of the Việt Nam Red Cross launched the campaign to call for blood donors and support the prevention and control of COVID-19.

The event also aims to raise public awareness for the Red Cross staff, members, volunteers and people to understand the virus and apply effective measures to prevent and control the epidemic. — VNS