Feature for blood donations in Vietnam makes debut (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the opening of the annual Red Spring Festival, the largest blood donation event in Vietnam, on February 12, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) Bach Quoc Khanh said that the feature was first launched in 2017 and has to date been applied in 43 nations with over 100 million registrants. It helps blood-receiving facilities to easily and quickly connect with donors, raise public awareness about safe blood donation and increase people's chances of accessing the nearest blood donation sites. Bui Thi Hoa, President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society Central Committee, emphasised that over the past years, the voluntary blood donation movement in Vietnam has been growing, meeting the blood demand for emergency cases and patient treatment. The Red Spring Festival is held annually after the Lunar New Year holiday, aims to help ensure sufficient blood supply for medical use which, in the past, often faced a serious shortage after the the country’s biggest and longest holiday. First held in the spring of 2008, the festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of participants and received nearly 92,000 units so far. Most of localities nationwide and many agencies, businesses, and organisations have also organised annual blood donation activities on this occasion. This year’s festival in Hanoi will last for nine days, until February 20, expected to attract 10,000 donors and receive about 7,000 blood units. During the period, people can donate at the NIHBT headquarters on Pham Van Bach street of Cau Giay district, the three fixed blood donation locations (No. 26 on Luong Ngoc Quyen street, No. 132 on Quan Nhan street, and No. 10 of Alley 122 on Lang street), as well as the cultural centre of Gia Lam district. They can register to make donation via https://hienmau.vn/events/lehoixuanhong/ or the app “Hien mau”./.