The National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) and Hanoi Youth Association for Blood Donation on February 6 kicked off the Xuan Hong (Red Spring) Festival – the biggest annual blood donation campaign of the season.

The one-week event themed “Donating blood in spring, multiplying happiness” expects to receive about 8,000 blood units.

Donors can visit one of the seven venues in Hanoi, including the institute, agricultural general hospital, and the People’s Committee headquarters of Trau Quy town.

NIHBT Director Nguyen Thanh Ha said that this year, thanks to the community's efforts, preparations for blood donation campaign has been much improved.

Between December 2022 and January this year – the time around the Lunar New Year Festival – the biggest and longest traditional festival in Vietnam, it received 57,000 units, sustaining a reserve of 12,000 units for the holiday period, much higher than the levels posted in previous years.

The blood collected from the Red Spring campaign and other ones will help NIHBT to ensure blood supply for more than 180 hospitals in the north, he said.

Having organised annually for 15 years, the blood donation event has attracted hundreds of thousands of donors, receiving over 100,000 blood units. This activity has contributed to overcoming the shortage of blood for treatment after the Lunar New Year (Tet) celebration, especially changing the perception of people about voluntary blood donation, forming a fine habit when entering a new year./.