Vietnam Hospital Falls Short of Type A Blood, Patients Awaiting Donors

The blood bank at the Hanoi-based National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion is running out of blood type A with only 160 units of 250ml left, local media reported today. The hospital said that it needed 500 units of type-A daily to ensure enough supply for patients at the hospital and the north region, of which it is the biggest blood bank. Many patients, especially children, have had to suspend treatment for blood related diseases, raising an alarming situation on blood shortage in long-term medical treatment.  Luu Ban Quan, 8, of Bac Kan Province, suffers from Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder caused when the body does not make enough hemoglobin. He is one of the children at the hospital children waiting for a type-A blood transfusion. Quan has had to go to the hospital every six weeks for blood transfusion since he was four months old. The hospital has asked people throughout the country to donate blood, especially type-A. The hospital’s blood donation site is open between 7:30am and 10pm every day. At present, 90% of the blood bank comes from blood donors and 10% is bought. Under a circular issued in 2014 by the Ministry of Health, it costs about VND603,000 ($27) per unit of blood. Vietnam needs about 1.8 million blood units for medical treatment each year, of which 60% is met, meaning that more lives will be saved if the number of blood donors increases. (vnexpress.net Sept 15)