Health minister leads blood drive
By Wang Qingchu and Li Xinran |
October 30, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE Health Minister Chen Zhu donated blood in Beijing yesterday, calling on the public to do the same, as hospitals in several provinces deal with a severe blood supply shortage.
Along with Chen, nearly 500 ministry and hospital workers also donated blood, one day after the Chinese Red Cross Society made an urgent appeal for donations.
"Donating blood is the responsibility and obligation of every healthy citizen of the right age," said Chen.
He assured the public that proper blood donations are not harmful to health.
Chen also responded to reports that blood-collecting centers sell donated blood to hospitals for a profit, saying "it is a misunderstanding."
The centers' sales just cover the cost of packaging, testing, storage and transportation, Chen said. "The blood itself is free of charge."
Critical blood shortages have been reported in many cities, including the capital Beijing where supplies are half the normal level, against a backdrop of increasing demand for blood, a distrust of the system and outmoded administration.
Salary reforms have seen blood center workers, who were paid for every bag of blood they collected, lose up to 80 percent of their wages.
A knock-on effect of this was that some donors are reluctant to give blood, annoyed that in the past their gift had earned a bonus for blood stations.
Meanwhile, nearly half of respondents in a survey cited by China Central Television said they are afraid of getting infected while donating. Many Chinese are suspicious of blood drives after tainted blood passed HIV to thousands of people in the 1990s.
Some complain that the blood collection system is outdated, as mobile units are not reaching the suburbs and donors and their families face a complex system to receive benefits.
Complicated application procedures have delayed the deployment of vehicles to outlying suburbs where many people now live, said Li Kaihong, director of blood source management department of Kunming Blood Center, in Yunnan Province, one of the major areas suffering the shortage.
China's blood donation law is too cumbersome and should be revised, said Ouyang Jinqiao with the Jiangxi Provincial Blood Center.
"Free blood donors and their families are entitled to use certain blood for free during surgery, but according to the law they have to first pay before being reimbursed, which is complicated," Ouyang said.
To tackle the crisis, the government of Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, yesterday mobilized students and staff at 37 universities and colleges to donate blood.
Hospitals in Beijing and the provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi and Yunnan are suffering from acute blood shortages, causing the delay of some surgical procedures.
In Kunming, all surgery requiring blood transfusions of more than 600cc has been postponed unless it is an emergency.
Meanwhile, the blood supply in Shanghai is sufficient with more than 7,500 units, the city's blood office said.
Chinese demand for blood has grown 10-15 percent annually in recent years..
Along with Chen, nearly 500 ministry and hospital workers also donated blood, one day after the Chinese Red Cross Society made an urgent appeal for donations.
"Donating blood is the responsibility and obligation of every healthy citizen of the right age," said Chen.
He assured the public that proper blood donations are not harmful to health.
Chen also responded to reports that blood-collecting centers sell donated blood to hospitals for a profit, saying "it is a misunderstanding."
The centers' sales just cover the cost of packaging, testing, storage and transportation, Chen said. "The blood itself is free of charge."
Critical blood shortages have been reported in many cities, including the capital Beijing where supplies are half the normal level, against a backdrop of increasing demand for blood, a distrust of the system and outmoded administration.
Salary reforms have seen blood center workers, who were paid for every bag of blood they collected, lose up to 80 percent of their wages.
A knock-on effect of this was that some donors are reluctant to give blood, annoyed that in the past their gift had earned a bonus for blood stations.
Meanwhile, nearly half of respondents in a survey cited by China Central Television said they are afraid of getting infected while donating. Many Chinese are suspicious of blood drives after tainted blood passed HIV to thousands of people in the 1990s.
Some complain that the blood collection system is outdated, as mobile units are not reaching the suburbs and donors and their families face a complex system to receive benefits.
Complicated application procedures have delayed the deployment of vehicles to outlying suburbs where many people now live, said Li Kaihong, director of blood source management department of Kunming Blood Center, in Yunnan Province, one of the major areas suffering the shortage.
China's blood donation law is too cumbersome and should be revised, said Ouyang Jinqiao with the Jiangxi Provincial Blood Center.
"Free blood donors and their families are entitled to use certain blood for free during surgery, but according to the law they have to first pay before being reimbursed, which is complicated," Ouyang said.
To tackle the crisis, the government of Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, yesterday mobilized students and staff at 37 universities and colleges to donate blood.
Hospitals in Beijing and the provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi and Yunnan are suffering from acute blood shortages, causing the delay of some surgical procedures.
In Kunming, all surgery requiring blood transfusions of more than 600cc has been postponed unless it is an emergency.
Meanwhile, the blood supply in Shanghai is sufficient with more than 7,500 units, the city's blood office said.
Chinese demand for blood has grown 10-15 percent annually in recent years..
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