A ceremony to honour hundreds of blood donors was held in Ho Chi Minh City on June 7 in observation of World Blood Donor Day (June 14).

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan said the good deeds have saved many lives.

He called on the whole community to take an active part in blood donation campaigns.

Ho Chi Minh City strives to have at least two and three percent of its population to join the drive by 2015 and 2020, respectively.

Launched in 1994, the city’s blood donation events have collected more than 1.6 million units of blood given by over 1.4 million volunteers.

In the first six months of this year, they received nearly 94,000 units of blood, fulfilling 52 percent of the yearly target.-VNA