According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, hospitals are only able to meet 54% of the country’s blood demand and only 1.68% of the population has already donated blood.
For the URGO Foundation, access to first aid is essential to react as quickly as possible and thus save lives. As part of this commitment, the URGO Foundation responded to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s call in June 2023 to accelerate donations and entered into a partnership with the Ho Chi Minh Humanitarian Blood Donation Center and the Long Châu pharmacy chain.
The URGO Foundation and the Humanitarian Center therefore organized blood collections from nearly 100 pharmacists in Long Châu pharmacies.
The objective of this partnership? To raise public awareness of blood donation in order to encourage them to carry out this voluntary and civic act.
A press conference to inform the population
To make this project known to as many people as possible, a press conference was organized on October 16th at the International Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City. Representatives of the URGO Foundation, Long Châu, the Red Cross, as well as the Consulate General of France in Vietnam, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh City Cardiology Institute were present.
All stressed the importance of donating blood to save lives and called on healthy people to become donors.
Numerous media (21 newspapers and the HTV television channel) relayed the information, thus raising awareness among the Vietnamese population about this public health issue.
You can consult the articles (translation is possible by right-clicking and clicking on “translate into your language”):
– FPT Long Chau and Urgo Foundation organize blood donation – VnExpress Health
– Blood donated nationwide only meets 54% of treatment needs – Tuoi Tre Online)
A first blood donation session organized
On October 17th, the first blood donation operation organized by the three partners took place at the Long Châu training center in Ho Chi Minh City.
In total, 95 pharmacists from the Long Châu pharmacy chain were able to donate blood. Everyone was thrilled to participate in this solidarity action.
“Donating blood can help change the lives of millions of patients. A road accident, a childbirth that does not go as planned, an immune deficiency… No one is safe from one day needing the blood of others. This is why it is essential to raise awareness about blood donation. » one of the participants shares with us.
Many other blood donation sessions will be organized soon!
