Weaknesses in blood drive organisations have driven voluntary
donors away from giving blood, health experts have said.

Local people donate their blood in HCM City’s Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion. Severe blood shortages have been reported at several hospitals. (Photo: VNS)

Figures
from the Ministry of Health showed that the blood transfusion safety programme
collected more than 670,430 blood units last year, an increase of 12.3 per cent
compared to the previous year. However, it could only meet 42 per cent of the
country’s hospital demands.

Severe
blood shortage has been reported at many hospitals, especially during Tet and
summer vacations when blood donors, who are often students, are busy with
examinations or have returned to their home villages.

Director
of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion Nguyen Anh Tri
said the collected blood units, which increased 15 per cent on average annually,
remained quite low. Thus, it was far from meeting the demand for emergency
treatments.

Nguyen Duc Thuan, director of the
Viet Nam Red Cross’s Blood Centre, said although many people joined campaigns,
such as the Red Spring Festival and the Humanitarian Blood Donation Day, the
organisations failed to maintain consistent volunteerism. They often forced
voluntary donors to wait for hours before giving blood or failed to give them
proper refreshments. The blood transfusion institute’s deputy director Pham Tuan
Duong added that many donors refused to wait for extensive periods of time and
eventually would leave before giving blood.

Moreover, Duong said blood selling activities, which remain legal in Viet Nam,
may affect blood quality and discourage people from giving blood.

“Some
blood donors have become blood sellers for money,” he said.

Health
experts suggested that voluntary blood donation activities must be developed
effectively to attract more people.

In
addition, blood trading should be minimised and eventually eliminated to ensure
only high-quality blood is used for patients.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News