Blood donation – journey of love sharing
April 7 was designated as the “All People’s Voluntary Blood Donation Day” 24 years ago and, ever since, the blood donation movement has attracted the participation of tens of thousands of people across the country.
Over the past time, the movement has drawn the due attention of Party and State leaders, as well as the active engagement of centrally-run agencies and localities.
In 2020, marking the 20th anniversary of the drive, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a letter to residents and soldiers nationwide, praising blood donors for their good deed.
At a meeting with outstanding blood donors last year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that blood donation is the responsibility, the duty, and the "order" from heart of each person.
The movement has witnessed reforms and creativity in approaches and organisation methods. The use of technology, social media, and other media channels has helped attract widespread participation from the public. Blood donation events have been organised in an increasingly professional and creative manner, capturing the attention and involvement of a large number of people.
Many activities have been held and left strong ripple effect such as the blood donation campaign ahead of the Lunar New Year, the Red Spring Festival, the Summer Red Drops, and the Red Journey, or the events held on the occasion of the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day (April 7) and the World Blood Donor Day (June 14).
Last year, a total of 1.5 million blood units were collected, with 99% from voluntary donors.
However, Vietnam needs about 2 million blood units for emergency aid, medical treatment, and reserves for accidents, disasters, and epidemics, said Dr. Tran Ngoc Que, Director of the National Blood Centre under Vietnam's Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.
Given this, he stressed the need to step up the communications work and roll out diverse blood donation programmes and events in order to attract more participants.
