The conference was attended by representatives from the health sector and Red Cross Society chapters across the country who emphasized the importance of voluntary blood donation in an effort to set up clubs of rare blood groups and blood banks.

It was projected that the total blood collection in 2007 would increase by 20 percent compared to 2006, with the proportion of voluntary blood donation accounting for 70 percent.

According to the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusions and the Vietnam Red Cross Society, in the past two years, the country organised more than 2,000 blood donation days and collected nearly 456,000 blood units. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Da Nang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau had the highest numbers of voluntary blood donors.