Ceremony honouring outstanding blood donors held in Ninh Binh

The event also kicked off a series of activities organised in the framework of the 6th Red Journey, a nationwide blood donation communication campaign.At the "journey to the Hoa Lu ancient capital" ceremony, Bach Quoc Khanh, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, underlined that the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies chose June 14 as World Blood Donor Day.The day aims to thank voluntary and unpaid blood donors all over the world, he said, adding that in 2017, Vietnam mobilised nearly 1.4 million blood units, 98 percent of which came from voluntary blood donors.Themed "Be there for someone else. Give blood. Share life", World Blood Donor Day lays stress on solidarity and humanitarian value and highlights the importance of regular blood donations to save lives of patients in need.The same day, 100 outstanding blood donor paraded to popularise the blood donation campaign in Ninh Binh city and offered incense at the temple of King Dinh Tien Hoang and King Le Dai Hanh.An official ceremony to honour 100 outstanding Vietnamese donors will be held in Hanoi on June 9.The 6th Red Journey will be launched in southern Ca Mau province on June 14. The journey will travel through 26 cities and provinces until July 15 with a hope of collecting at least 30,000 blood units.After five years of organisation, the Red Journey received 120,000 blood units, making contributions to improving blood shortage situation during summer, meeting emergency and treatment needs, and raising public awareness of the humanitarian blood donation movement.

(Source: VNA)