More than 400 units of blood (350ml each) were collected from donors, including students, volunteers and staff of Prudential Viet Nam, at a blood donation festival on November 13 in Ha Noi.

The annual event was organized under the framework of a voluntary blood donation programme by the Việt Nam Red Cross Society and Prudential Việt Nam to mark Viet Nam Red Cross's 70^th establishment anniversary (November 23, 1946 - November 23, 2016) and Prudential Viet Nam’s 17^th establishment anniversary.

This year’s programme will take place in Ha Noi and 16 others provinces and cities nationwide, aiming to collect at least 7,000 units of blood.

The society said last year Viet Nam collected more than 1.3 million units of blood, equivalent to 1.4 per cent of the country’s population.

Nearly 97 per cent of the collected blood was donated from voluntary donors. Blood donation has helped save numerous lives and improved the health conditions of thousands of needy patients nationwide. — VNS