VietNamNet Bridge – The National Institute of Haematology and Blood Tranfusion (NIHBT) is desperately in need of donors who have the blood type O.

Donors with the blood type O are desperately needed in many cities and provinces across the country. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Oanh

They say there’s a serious shortage of this particular group in many provinces and cities including Hanoi, Tuyen Quang, Thanh Hoa, Binh Dinh and Lam Dong.

Professor Bach Quoc Khanh, director of the institute, said although agencies and communities have made great efforts to organise blood donation programmes, the blood type O receiving is still in demand.

Many patients were tired of waiting for blood, he said.

Some hospitals in Hanoi had to ask patients’ relatives to donate blood.

Every day, the institute needs around 700-1,500 units of blood to serve the needs of treatment of 180 hospitals in Hanoi and northern provinces. 

In Vietnam, nearly 50 per cent of the population has blood type O, so the number of patients requiring O for blood transfusion is always higher than that of other types.

Due to the recent heavy rains, plans for blood donation have been postponed. This was also one of the reasons that volume of blood type O available at the institute dropped severely, he said.

"That is why we call on citizens to donate as soon as possible as the amount of blood donation tends to fall before and after the National Day Holiday (September 2)," said Khanh.

Statistics of the Steering Committee of Voluntary Blood Donation show many people are willing to donate blood in recent years, increasing steadily from 76 per cent in 2008 to 91 and 98 per cent in 2013 and 2017, respectively.

People who want to donate blood can visit the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion on Pham Van Bach Street in Hanoi’s Cau Giay District from 8am to 8pm every day; or go to the nearest blood donation venues.

Source: VNS