Red Sunday blood donation campaign kicks off in Hà Nội

More than 2,000 students of the People's Police Academy register to donate blood at the main event of Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022 (Red Sunday), a blood donation campaign in Hà Nội. — VNS Photos Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — The main event of Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022 (Red Sunday), a blood donation campaign was officially launched in Hà Nội, collecting 1,235 units of blood at two blood donation points at the People's Police Academy and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions on Sunday.

On the same day, the 14th Red Sunday campaign also received 3,319 blood units from a number of blood donation events in Thái Bình, Thái Nguyên, Bắc Kạn, Thừa Thiên-Huế and Đắk Lắk provinces, bringing the total amount of collected blood to 15,362 units in 20 provinces and cities.

The annual event is organised by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper, the National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions (NIHBT), in more than 40 provinces and cities nationwide. It aims to handle the shortage of blood for emergency and treatment periods during and after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Students of the People's Police Academy donate blood at the Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022 (Red Sunday).

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said that over 28 years, the voluntary blood donation movement in Việt Nam had achieved many encouraging results.

"The demand for blood transfusion is increasing due to increasing demand for medical care and the health sector applying modern medical techniques such as organ transplantation, marrow transplantation, hemodialysis and treating many types of blood diseases.  Therefore, ensuring enough blood for emergencies and treatment puts great pressure on the health sector, especially when since COVID-19 pandemic broke out and spread widely in the community," said Tuyên.

"The amount of blood received in our country only meets about 75 per cent of the country's needs. It is blood donation events like Red Sunday that have contributed to the handling blood shortage, providing blood sources for patients in need of blood transfusion before and after the Tế t (Lunar New Year) holidays."

Tuyên also praised the Red Sunday blood donation festival of Tiền Phong newspaper and millions of voluntary donors in the country.

Major General Trần Minh Hưởng, director of the People’s Police Academy, said that the Academy had become one of the typical units in blood donation mobilisation. Many students and officials of the academy are typical faces in the country's blood donation movement. The academy has also set up a live blood bank.

"More than 2,000 students and soldiers of the academy have registered to donate blood. The academy has also established a club of more than 1,000 students, which is a live blood bank for hospitals, ready to donate blood whenever the hospitals need it," said Hưởng.

"Among the volunteers participating today, there are students and lecturers who have volunteered to join the frontline force in the fight against the pandemic and are ready to donate blood at many hot-spots across the country."

Deputy Minister of Health Đỗ Xuân Tuyên and Tiền Phong newspaper editor-in-chief Lê Xuân Sơn visit donors at Chủ Nhật Đỏ 2022 (Red Sunday).

Tiền Phong newspaper Editor-in-Chief Lê Xuân Sơn also said that the organising committee expected to collect 45,000-50,000 units of blood from a number of blood donation events in 40 provinces and cities across the country from November 2021 to the end of March 2022.

In 2021, due to the pandemic, many blood donation events were cancelled, and the 2021 Red Sunday festival mobilised more than 61,000 blood units in 43 provinces and cities, compared to 96 blood units collected at the first Red Sunday in 2009.

Last year, the health sector received more than 1.3 million blood units donated from voluntary donors across the country. — VNS