“Red Journey” 2017 expects to collect 35,000 blood units

HCM City (VNA) – At least 35,000 units of blood are expected to be collected during this year’s “Hanh trinh Do” (Red Journey), which will take place from July 1 to 30.

Prof. Nguyen Anh Tri, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion and head of the organising board, told a conference held in HCM City on April 14 that the event will come to 30 localities across the country.

With 140 volunteers, the programme plans to provide consultations on voluntary blood donation and Thalassemia for 50,000 people and call on 40,000 people to register for blood donation. It will also present 1,000 gift packages to disadvantaged patients.

Tri noted that this year, the event will be organised in a larger scale compared to previous years, with several activities such as visiting martyr cemeteries, local historical sites and disadvantaged families.

He stressed the importance of preparations and coordination from each locality, as well as the conservation of donated blood.

After four years, the “Red Journey” received nearly 80,000 blood units to meet the growing demand for emergency and treatment cases.

The shortage of blood for medical use usually occurs in the Lunar New Year festival and the summer. The current volume of donated blood has met only 60 percent of treatment needs.

More than 5 million people in Vietnam suffer from Thalassemia, with 20,000 patients receiving treatment and over 2,000 children born with the disease.-VNA