Largest national-scale blood donation festival opens in Hanoi
Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh beat the drum to kick-start the Xuan Hong (Pink Spring) Festival, the largest national-scale blood donation campaign, at the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) in Hanoi on February 23.
Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh speaks to the blood donors at the Xuan Hong Festival 2019. (Photo: kinhtedothi.vn)
The event, the 12th of its kind, is jointly held by the NIHBT in collaboration with the Hanoi Steering Committee of Blood Donation Campaigns and the Hanoi Association of Young Blood Donor Recruiters.
Under the slogan “Giving Blood, Giving Life”, the festival is expected to attract 12,000 participants and receive at least 5,000 blood units catering to emergency needs and treatment at hospitals.
The 2019 programme features many meaningful activities, such as a walking parade calling for blood donations, a camp on 12 years of Xuan Hong events, music performances, and folk games, with the participation of many celebrities, including football star Que Ngoc Hai of Vietnam’s national team, Meritorious Artist Xuan Bac, and singer Tung Duong, among others.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong highlighted the increasing demand for the use of blood and blood products in treatment, while calling for the regular organisation of blood donation campaigns and blood donation festivals so that the collected blood units are used in a more effective manner.
He asked the functional agencies to focus on improving the quality and safety of blood transfusions by caring for the health of blood donors, effectively implement the test packages for blood donors and encourage the blood donors to regularly repeat their noble acts in the future.
Cuong called on the officials and employees of the health sector to actively engage in blood donation campaigns, urging cities and provinces to enthusiastically respond to and organise the Xuan Hong Festival so that its spirit is spread to every person throughout the country.
So far, the Xuan Hong Festival has attracted the participation of more than 200,000 people and collected over 67,000 blood units for medical treatment.
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