Local donors ensure blood supply during epidemic

LOCAL residents donated blood some 80,000 times between January 23 and May 31 to help ensure medical supplies during the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Nearly 90 percent of donors were under 40 years old, the local blood authority said yesterday, World Blood Donor Day.

This year’s theme is “Safe blood saves lives” with the slogan “Give blood and make the world a healthier place.” The aim is to establish a safe and healthy blood supply system, improve blood donation services and encourage more people to donate blood and do it regularly.

The city collected 511,800 units of blood last year (one unit is about 200 milliliters), up 78.7 percent compared with 20 years ago, basically meeting clinical demand, the authority said.

A livestreamed program was launched yesterday to show the public how safe blood can save patients and encourage more residents to donate.

Major city tourist sites and landmark buildings such as the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Global Harbor were all lit red last night to celebrate the day, along with another 44 cities in China under a campaign organized by the China Blood Transfusion Association.

To show respect and care for blood donors, Shanghai has announced that blood donors and their family members undergoing medical procedures will not be charged for blood transfusion since the end of January 31.

Under local regulations, blood donors can use five times of their blood donation for free within five years, and the same amount of blood for free in future. Their family members have free use of blood in the same quantity of the donation within five years.

The fee for blood transfusion is 240 yuan (US$34) per unit and covers the cost of testing, collection, transfusion and storage.

Previously, patients had to pay the fee at the hospital and then travel to the blood management office for reimbursement. Under the new policy, the fee is directly deducted at the hospital, according to the officials.