Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) will set up an electronic blood bank by late 2011 to help deal with the national blood shortage.
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| The VEBB is to help deal with shortage of donated blood |
The Vietnam Electronic Blood Bank (VEBB) is expected to provide 37,500 blood units in 2012, and 160,000 units in 2015.
Nguyen Duc Thuan, Director of the Humanitarian Blood Donation Department, of the VRC, said the VEBB has a database of people who are both eligible and ready to donate blood when required.
Donations can also be pledged over the Internet or mobile devices.
The model of electronic blood bank is widely used worldwide, and has proven to be extremely effective.
Vietnam’s medical centres and hospitals only meet 39% of people’s blood transfusion demand, causing difficulties at hospitals, particularly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Thuan added.
In 2010, the country collected 675,438 blood units of blood, 84.2% coming from volunteers. However, just around 0.78% of Vietnamese population has ever donated blood.
Thuan called on agencies and organisations at all levels to join hands to support the operation of the VEBB.