People brave severe heat to donate blood in many provinces

Hanoi (VNA) – Thousands of people in northern mountainous and central provinces have braved the severe hot weather to take part in blood donation events of the Red Journey campaign over the past days.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of northern Lang Son province Nguyen Long Hai said this was the fifth time the Red Journey had been held in the locality. This year’s event was organised in not only Lang Son city but also the border district of Loc Binh, helping to call for more support for the voluntary blood donation movement.

On July 3 ad 4, over 1,030 blood units were collected, a record of the programme in Lang Son so far.

In the neighbouring province of Cao Bang, the scorching heat was also unable to deter many people, mainly from ethnic minority groups like Tay, Nung, Mong and Dao, from queuing up to wait for their turn to donate blood on July 6.

To attract ethnics, the provincial steering board for blood donation mobilisation set up clubs with many ethnic minority members who helped popularise the significance of humanitarian blood donation to residents in remote areas.

As a result, about 430 blood units were donated at the event in Cao Bang.

On July 7, the Red Journey also took place in the northern province of Bac Kan, collecting more than 630 blood units as of the midday.

Since 2012, the province has organised 10 – 15 blood donation events and received 1,500 – 2,200 blood units each year, supplying at least 60 percent of the blood needed for medical treatment at the Bac Kan General Hospital.

A similar event has also been taking place in the neighbouring province of Tuyen Quang, drawing the warm response from local residents.

Meanwhile, more than 500 blood units were donated at an event in Nui Thanh district, the central province of Quang Nam, on July 7. Such activities will continue in many other localities of Quang Nam until the end of July and are expect to receive over 3,000 blood units.

More than 6,300 blood units have been collected at 27 blood donation events in Quang Nam since the beginning of 2018.

The same day, the Red Journey campaign also took place in Quang Tri province, collecting nearly 500 blood units. This was the third time it had been held in the central locality.

As of the end of July 6, the Red Journey had received 16,300 blood units in the destinations it visited.

This year’s campaign is hoped to collect at least 30,000 blood units when it comes to 26 provinces and cities across the country from June 13 to July 14. 

The Red Journey was initiated by the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion in 2013. It is a nationwide communication campaign helping to address the shortage of blood for medical treatment in summer. 

More than 120,000 blood units were donated in the programme from 2013 to 2017.-VNA