Volunteers of Hanh trinh do(Red Journey) blood-donation campaign 2017 (Photo: VNA)




Hanoi (VNA) – Nearly 4,200 units of blood were collected from the
youth and other volunteers in the final collection drive of the annual
blood-donation campaign Hanh trinh do (Red Journey) 2017.



The donation drive was organised by the National Institute of Haematology and
Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) in Hanoi on July 29.



With this, the total amount collected from 28 blood-donation events in the past
month, held across 28 provinces and cities nationwide, have reached over 38,000
units.



“The Red Journey is an initiative of NIHBT to handle blood shortage situation
in localities across the nation during the summer. Over the five-year implementation,
the journey has achieved outstanding results in making available blood sources
during emergencies and for treatment in hospitals during the summer,” said
Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong at the event.



Cuong said the campaign had successfully achieved its goals of helping
provinces and cities organise blood donation festivals and communication
drives, as well as to handle the huge amount of blood collected.



“In 2017, more than 16,000 blood units collected from Can Tho city, Lam Dong, Dak
Lak, Tuyen Quang provinces were sent to the NIHBT in Hanoi to ease the blood
shortage situation in 170 hospitals in the 27 northern provinces,” said Cuong.



“It means that patients in the mountainous provinces of Dong Van or Ha Giang
also received similar qualified blood units as patients in Hanoi,” said Cuong.

 

Cuong also praised the contributions of thousands of health workers and
volunteers nationwide, especially the 140 outstanding volunteers who travelled
across the country to collect blood and encourage people to donate them. 



“I can say that the journey has given us the expected results. It has changed
the people’s mindset and the community’s awareness about voluntary blood
donation,” added Cuong.



Permanent member of the National Assembly’s Social Affairs
Committee Luu Binh Nhuong also attended the event to donate his
blood. 



“This is my fourth time. Donating blood is not only the responsibility of each
resident, but also of the whole community for the sake of people’s health care
and protection,” said Nhuong.



“I think that everybody, including policy makers or managers, should get
involved in the voluntary blood donation movement,” said he.



Nguyen Thi Nguyet, a mother from Thach That district, Hanoi, was present along
with her two-year-old son at the event to donate her blood. Nguyet said she had
donated blood six times, while her husband had donated blood 14 times.



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Both Nguyet and her husband, have the same sense of purpose, which is to save
lives.



“I am happy to donate to save the lives of needy patients. I will continue to
donate my blood in the future,” said Nguyet.   



During the one-month campaign, 140 outstanding volunteers, divided into two
groups, travelled through 28 provinces and cities nationwide to collect blood
and spread the message about the importance of donating blood.



They also called upon the public to donate blood in a bid to ease the current
blood shortage at hospitals and raise community awareness of thalassemia – a
genetic blood disorder that can lead to heart failure and liver problems.



Since the first Red Journey in 2013, thousands of patients’ lives have been
saved thanks to the nearly 120,000 blood units collected in the past five
years. The campaign has contributed to easing blood shortage during the summer
when voluntary donors, mainly students, go home for the summer vacation,
according to NIHBT.



NIHBT Director Nguyen Anh Tri said that Red Journey was seen as a most unique,
outstanding and effective model of voluntary blood donation mobilisation
movement in Vietnam over the past years.



In 2016, the health sector collected 1.4 million units of blood, 90 percent of
which came from voluntary donors, while only 10 percent was collected from
people who sold their blood for money



The health sector has set a goal of collecting at least 1.7 million units of
blood in 2017.-VNA