Vietnam Biggest City Raises 100,000 Blood Units YTD

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest economic hub, has raised a total of 100,000 blood units year to date, accounting for 46% of this year target. The figure was announce during the Blood Drive event in HCMC on July 9, which is part of the National Blood Drive 2015 program. The city has participated in the program for three straight years and always lead the country in amount of blood units donated. Meanwhile, in 2014, the country had raised 1 million blood units, 90% of which was donated. However, the amount only met 50% of the demand for emergency and treatment. The 100,000 blood units equal to 100,000 pints; the average adult has 10 pints of blood in his or her body. As of end 2014, the city had 12.87 million people. After two years of the Blood Drive campaign, the event organizers have educated over 1 million people on thalassemia and encouraged over 1 million people to donate blood and another 50,000 to register to donate blood. The events had raised nearly 29,000 units. In Vietnam, there are more than 10 million people, or about 11% of the country’s population, carrying the thalassemia gene, an inherited disorder that affects the production of hemoglobin, according to data released at a workshop in Hanoi recently. Blood Drive 2015 is divided into two groups with the first one traveling through 13 Southern and Central provinces and the second one traveling through eight Northern provinces and will meet in Hanoi on July 24 for the “Blood Donation Day” event. Earlier in June, hospitals across Vietnam called on local citizens to donate blood at nearby healthcare facilities as the blood bank at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) is facing a severe shortage, especially of blood types A and O. (Tin Tuc – News July 10 p8)