Faced with annual blood shortages during the Lunar New Year, the Red Sunday campaign was created 17 years ago-and has since saved countless lives by collecting hundreds of thousands of blood units nationwide.

On January 6, organizers of the 18th Red Sunday announced the campaign’s official launch will take place on January 11 at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. This marks the beginning of a large-scale blood donation drive spanning across Vietnam.

The Red Sunday initiative was born out of a severe blood shortage in late 2008 and early 2009. Conceived by the newspaper Tien Phong, the first donation event was held in 2009 in Hanoi, gathering a modest 96 units of blood. Despite its humble start, those first drops of blood sparked a lasting flame of compassion that has carried the movement through nearly two decades.

Over the years, the campaign has grown significantly in scale and impact. In 2013, it expanded beyond Hanoi, with an event held at Thai Nguyen University-marking a key turning point in scaling the volunteer model nationwide.

Since 2019, Red Sunday has been held widely at schools, residential areas, and urban zones, attracting massive participation from youth union members, students, civil servants, soldiers, and citizens alike.

Thanks to persistent efforts, Vietnam's blood donation movement has seen substantial growth. In 2025 alone, nearly 1.75 million units of blood were collected nationwide. Notably, 98% of this came from voluntary donors, representing approximately 1.75% of the population.

This stable supply has helped significantly alleviate blood shortages during Tet in recent years.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ha Thanh, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said that in the first three months of 2026 alone, the institute anticipates needing approximately 122,000 blood units to serve over 180 medical facilities across northern Vietnam.

"Every unit of donated blood gives another life a chance," Dr. Thanh emphasized. “Red Sunday is a bridge of compassion connecting generous hearts with tens of thousands of patients desperately waiting for survival.”

Pham Van Tan, a patient at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, shared that he suffers from thalassemia and requires three to four units of blood monthly.

“For more than ten years, my life has been sustained thanks to the meaningful blood donated by others,” said Tan, who is originally from Thanh Hoa province.

Now, his two children have also become active blood donors, driven by a deep understanding that “a drop of blood given is a life saved.”

Phuong Thuy