100 outstanding blood donors honoured

A ceremony was held in Hanoi on June 6 to honour 100 outstanding blood donors in 2019, in response to World Blood Donor Day (June 14).

Politburo member Truong Thi Mai and Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien presents certificates of merit to the outstanding blood donors.
Politburo member Truong Thi Mai and Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien presents certificates of merit to the outstanding blood donors.

Addressing the event, Truong Thi Mai, Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation, called on people from all walks of life to support blood donation campaigns.

The official urged all-level steering boards for voluntary blood donation mobilisation to step up communication work, improve the quality and sustainability of the campaigns, and pay more attention to blood quality.

Among the honoured donors, Nguyen Hai Trieu and Tran Thanh Long, both from Ho Chi Minh City, have donated blood for 70 times.

There are also foreign blood donors who are living and working in Vietnam like Montri Suwanposri from CP Vietnam Breeding JSC.

According to the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, the health sector received nearly 1.4 million blood units in 2018, of which 98.3% was donated voluntarily by individuals. Voluntary blood donors made up 1.4% of the population.

June 14 was designated as World Blood Donor Day in 2004. The day is also an occasion to commemorate the birthday of Austrian American scientist Karl Landsteiner who discovered the rare blood type ABO in 1901, for which he received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

This year’s World Blood Donor Day takes the theme of “Safe blood for all”.