Red Journey blood donation campaign to reach 39 localities
HCM City seeks 260,000 voluntary blood donors

One hundred outstanding blood donors will be honoured at a ceremony on June 6 in Hanoi on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day (June 14). — Photo NIHBT

The annual event is organised by the National Steering Committee for Voluntarily Blood Donation Mobilisation, to honour outstanding blood donors or people who have had great contributions to blood donation in Vietnam.

It also aims to promote community awareness of blood safety and encourage people to regularly donate blood across the country.

Among the 100 outstanding donors, Nguyen Tri Hieu from HCM City has donated blood 71 times.

This year, the event's organiser will also honor outstanding donors with rare blood types, including Nguyen Duc Kien, deputy head of the Ha Noi Rare Blood Types Club and Lam Van Vinh from HCM City Rare Blood Types Club.

They are also members of the Reserve Blood Donation clubs like Vo Phong Hau from Phu Quoc Island District of Kien Giang Province and Hoang Xuan Thuy from Cat Hai island District, Hai Phong City.

On the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day, Hành trình đỏ (the Red Journey), the country’s largest scale blood donation mobilisation campaign, will begin on June 13 and run until July 28, 2019 with the participation of thousands of donors and volunteers in 39 provinces and cities across the country.

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society President Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said Red Journey was the country's largest communication campaign on blood donation that has taken place in 46 provinces and cities nationwide over the past six years.

"Red Journey has collected more than 170,000 blood units, contributing to handling blood shortage situation during summer and saving the lives of thousands of needy patients,” said Thu.

The National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion Director Bach Quoc Khanh said the health sector received nearly 1.4 million blood units in 2018, of which 98.3 per cent was donated by voluntarily blood donors, making up 1.4 per cent of the population.

VNS