A campaign themed “Red Blood Summer 2013” was launched in Hanoi on May 8 with a target of mobilising nearly 600,000 people to donate at least over 300,000 units of bloods during the 2013 summer.

The four-month campaign, implemented by the National Steering Committee of Voluntary Blood Donation, aims at mobilising people of all strata to actively join blood donation movements, ensuring sufficient blood for emergency and treatment during this summer.

The committee’s deputy head, Nguyen Hai Duong, said the campaign was simultaneously launched in all provinces and cities throughout the country, with several slogans such as “Blood donation – a noble deed”, “A drop of blood saves a person” and “Donating drops of red blood – Giving hope”.

In some localities, such as Hanoi , Da Nang , Thua Thien-Hue, Ho Chi Minh City , Can Tho and Ca Mau, the campaign will be included in the “Red Journey” programme scheduled for July 6-28.

A wide range of activities will be carried out in response to the campaign, including a ceremony to honour 100 outstanding blood donors in 2013, a festival titled “Red blood drops for children”, voluntary blood donations by journalists and for AO victims among others.

Localities will focus on mobilising 15,000 reserve donors and those with rare blood types.

Over 65,000 volunteers will contribute 1 million workdays to the campaign while some 9,500 news articles will be run on central and local media to disseminate the event.-VNA