One-hundred blood donors from across the country will be honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on Sunday for their contribution to humanitarian aid.

The event, its second incarnation this year, is being organised to mark annual World Blood Donor Day on June 14.

"It will be a memorable event for 100 blood donors, who should be proud of their actions and continue to donate more blood," said the committee's deputy director and Vietnam Red Cross chairman Tran Ngoc Tang at a press conference yesterday.

Donors will also have the opportunity to exchange their experiences about blood donation with patients who benefited from blood donations in a three regions meeting today.

There are currently between 3,000-4,000 units in the country's blood reserves. Voluntary donors have contributed more than 85 percent of the blood supply, said Director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion Nguyen Anh Tri.

The national blood donation rate is still far lower than the recommended World Health Organisation rate of around 2 percent of the population. The health sector collected more than 675,000 blood units last year, accounting for 0.85 percent of Vietnam 's population. /.