A young man donates blood at the Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien-Hue province on April 1 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The National Institute of Hematologyand Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) is appealing to people with blood types O and A tomake donations, as its blood reserves are now only sufficient to cover oneweek.
The NIHBT said there were only some 8,000 bloodunits left in its stockpile as at April 6.
The COVID-19 pandemic has discouraged many peoplefrom donating blood over the last two months. The institute received only16,000 blood units in March, much lower than the 32,000 to 36,000 units donatedin March of previous years.
Though the number of patients visiting hospitalsfor check-ups and treatment has declined in recent times, the NIHBT still requiresaround 700 blood units every day for hospitals in 25 cities and provinces nationwide.
There is a serious shortage of donated blood atpresent, it said, noting that blood types O and A are in greatest demand.
The NIHBT has also decided to suspend donationof blood types B and AB, since demand for these is lower than the amount alreadyreceived.
To make a blood donation in Hanoi, people can visitthe institute’s headquarters on Pham Van Bach Street in Cau Giay district or blooddonation sites at 26 Luong Ngoc Quyen Street in Hoan Kiem district; 132 QuanNhan Street in Thanh Xuan district; 10, Laneway 122 Lang Street in Dong Dadistrict; and 1, Laneway 40 Ta Quang Buu Street in Hai Ba Trung district.
They can also search for the nearest donation siteat http://bak.nihbt.org.vn/Home/DiemHM/ or at designated sites in their locality./.
VNA
