National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung presented the Ho Chi Minh Order to the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) on the occasion of its 65th founding anniversary in Hanoi on Nov. 20.

NA Chairman Hung said the VRCS has always provided timely assistance to people in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and also actively taken part in international emergency relief activities.

The top legislator took the occasion to thank the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Red Cross Committee and Red Cross organisations of other countries for their effective assistance to Vietnamese people.

The VRCS, Vietnam’s first professional humanitarian organization, was founded on Nov. 23, 1946 by President Ho Chi Minh, who was also the association’s honorary president.

The association now has 19,725 grass-root chapters in 63 provinces and cities, almost 21,160 cadres and nearly 300,000 volunteers.

It focuses on emergency relief, humanitarian aid, healthcare, first-aid; blood, tissue and human organ donations, search and rescue and responding to natural disasters./.