A woman donates blood in northern Lạng Sơn Province. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation said it had received approximately 1.7 million units of blood in 2020, which helped millions of patients, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount of blood units donated in 2020 mostly fulfilled the annual plan. 

The majority of blood units were donated by volunteers, equivalent to nearly 1.5 per cent of the population. 

Half of the donors donated their blood more than once. Blood was collected from the Lunar New Year Blood Donation Campaign, Red Spring Festival, Red Blood Drops Summer, and the Red Journey Programme.

The amount of blood has helped cure patients who needed blood transfusions as the blood bank went dry when donors feared the coronavirus and stopped going to hospitals for blood donation.

2020’s blood units have increased compared to the figure in 2019. In 2019, more than 1.6 million blood units were donated. 

The committee targets to collect more than 1.7 million units of blood this year. — VNS