Donate golden blood - give thousands of hopes
On October 26, the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion organized a meeting with outstanding voluntary platelet donors in 2024 with the message "Donate golden blood - give thousands of hopes".
The event aims to honor and express gratitude to individuals and groups who regularly donate platelets, contributing to fully and promptly meeting the demand for platelet preparations for emergency and treatment. This is also an opportunity for regular platelet donors and patients who receive platelets to meet, share and exchange.
Held since 2020, every year the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion honors and meets 200 outstanding voluntary platelet donors.
According to Dr. Tran Ngoc Que - Director of the National Blood Center, National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, 2024 marks special changes of the Institute in platelet reception. Platelet reception is very stable and sustainable, there is almost no time when there is a shortage of platelets for treatment; even when dengue fever outbreaks, platelet preparations are still well met.
By the end of October 2024, the Institute had received 29,428 platelet units from 8,372 donors, with each donor donating an average of 3.4 times. This result shows an increasing trend in the number of platelet donors and the number of donations per year.
200 delegates attended this year's program, including many individuals who achieved a very high number of voluntary platelet donations in the year.
Topping the list is Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu (born in 1993), who has donated a total of 129 times, including 116 platelet donations, 13 of which were in 2024. Mr. Hieu is also honored to be one of the 100 outstanding blood donors nationwide in 2024.
Since the first day of donating blood “just to know”, 12 years have passed, the young man Nguyen Van Hieu (31 years old, Hanoi) has been persistent, attached to voluntary blood donation activities with the desire to bring platelet units, drops of blood to contribute to lighting up the hope of life, bringing happiness to patients and their families.
Mr. Hieu shared: “The first 3 years, I donated whole blood, then switched to donating platelets. Donating blood is now a habit for me. Even though I am busy with work, every time I am reminded, I will try to arrange my work to donate. If I am not able to donate blood on the scheduled day, I feel like something is missing, like waking up in the morning without brushing my teeth.”
But once, Mr. Hieu surprised his colleagues by temporarily putting aside his work even during working hours to donate blood. “At that time, I was at work, when I read the news about a patient needing blood on social media, I asked the company to let me go home early. I also invited a few friends to go to the hospital to donate blood for the patient in urgent need,” Mr. Hieu recalled.
Work is important, but saving lives in times of need is even more important. Mr. Hieu's actions made his colleagues and friends admire him, feel excited about this activity and join him in donating blood. They are willing to participate in regular blood donations and repeat blood donations.
Spread the spirit of blood donation, platelet donation for the community
Having donated blood and platelets nearly 70 times, Mr. Hoang Ngoc Tuyen (Long Bien, Hanoi) is always present at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion every month. This activity is as familiar to him as visiting a family friend.
Mr. Tuyen donated blood for the first time in 2007 when he was working at the Gia Thuy Ward People's Committee, Long Bien District. From then on, he began to learn about the benefits and significance of voluntary blood donation and determined to do this more often. "After donating blood for the first time, I felt that I needed to do this more, not only to help many people but also to make life more meaningful," Mr. Tuyen shared.
From blood donation points at his residence and workplace, Mr. Tuyen proactively sought information and donated blood at many places. Sometimes when he came across a mobile blood donation point on the road, he would stop his work and stop by to donate blood.
He didn't think much about what he would get in return, it simply came from his kindness and desire to give. For that reason, Tuyen's beautiful actions inspired his wife without her knowing.
Over the past 3 years, Mr. Tuyen and his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha Giang, have learned about platelet donation. Since then, they have always taken time to go to the Institute to donate platelets every month. Due to the nature of their work, Mr. Tuyen and his wife can only donate platelets on weekends. To date, Mr. Tuyen has donated blood 66 times, including 38 platelet donations. Ms. Ha Giang has also donated blood 40 times, including 28 platelet donations.
As the oldest person among 200 typical delegates, Mr. Hoang Van Lua (60 years old, Gia Lam, Hanoi) donated blood and platelets a total of 35 times, of which 29 times were platelet donations.
Although he started donating blood at the age of 55, his spirit of donating blood and platelets has always made the community admire him. He once left home at 4am to donate platelets during the Covid-19 pandemic. Or when he heard that Typhoon Yagi was coming, worried that many people living far away would have limited movement, he was determined to donate platelets before the storm arrived.
Mr. Lua expressed regret that this is the last year that people can donate blood and platelets according to the age regulations. To take advantage of every opportunity, Mr. Lua has donated platelets 15 times in 2024. He believes that young people are always full of passion, continuing to spread the spirit of donating blood and platelets for the community to give the gift of life to patients.
Unlike whole blood donation, which requires a wait of nearly 3 months before being able to donate again, platelet donation only requires 2-3 weeks, so a person can donate up to nearly 20 times in a year. However, due to the very short preservation and storage period (maximum 5 days), platelet collection and preparation must be based on the needs of hospitals and patients. Therefore, in recent years, the institute has updated the estimated daily demand on the software and encouraged platelet donors to register before coming.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/nguon-cam-hung-tich-cuc-khi-duoc-cho-di-nhung-giot-mau-vang.html
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